It’s happened again. A record by a local band has gotten its hooks in me and this time it’s a record that packs quite a wallop.
This time the record is “Skin,” the third full-length album by Wild Powwers. Clocking in at around a lean 33 minutes, its nine tracks are songs that walk the fine line of being melodic and catchy while also maintaining a loud and heavy edges.
The album will be released Oct. 12 and it was recorded and mixed by Billy Anderson, who has worked with bands that know how to do loud and melodic (Jawbreaker) and bands that know how to do heavy (Melvins, Sleep). Another noteworthy name who worked on the album is Ed Brooks, who handled its mastering. He’s worked with a lot of my favorite locals (Pearl Jam, Posies, Hammerbox, Lemolo and many others).
But all of those bonafides don’t mean a thing if the music isn’t any good, which is why today I’m happy to share the debut of “Well, Shit,” a song that showcases everything that makes Wild Powwers a band worth your time. The track appears at the midway point of the album and displays the full range of what Wild Powwers has to offer.
It starts off with a bouncy, fuzzy backbone of a bass line that walks in Lara Hilgemann’s soft vocals which are soon accompanied drummer Lupe Flores’ backing vocals. The interplay between the two lasts until the chorus kicks in, which is when you’re hit by Hilgemann’s full-throated scream. From there you get a wall of sound that features tinges of psychedelia and some ridiculously slick and heavy drumming that closes down the track.
Flores had this to say about the song:
“Well, Shit” goes back to a time of feeling incredibly lonely and insecure. It’s a feeling of exclusion, as if you’re watching everything from a distance. Sometimes, those feelings don’t come from a real, tangible thing, they just exist. The song describes your friends around you jumping off a cliff, killing themselves off. More precisely, killing those insecurities inside themselves and becoming something new, together. But you’re scared and sad and you don’t think you can make it to the other side of it all (but it’s going to be ok, we promise).
As you can tell, Wild Powwers plays the type of loud, visceral rock that begs to be experienced live. But don’t just take my word for it. You can catch Wild Powwers at the record release party for “Skin” at Neumos on Oct. 25. The bill also includes Great Spiders and new Guerrilla Candy favorites Sloucher. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased by clicking on the image of the nifty show poster below.
And if that’s not enough to get you to consider spending a night out at Neumos enjoying some quality rock ‘n’ roll, enjoy the title track from “Skin,” which was debuted by the folks over at KEXP last month.
