It's been five years since them Wyldlife boys from Jersey City put out a new record. But they are back and they are better, stronger, smarter and harder.
"sorted.," the new, all lowercase with a period titled album on Wicked Cool, pushes many of my buttons. It's the Dead Boys with stronger melodies. It's the New York Dolls with better musicians. It's like The Replacements if they gave a shit.
The opener "Bystander" gets shot out of a cannon and the album never lets up. Guitarist Samm Allen's solos are tighter and less ramshackle. Dave Feldman has come a long way from his in your face vocals on the band's 2011 debut. Here on "sorted." he manages to remind us that, yes, he is still a punk, but he is also a singer. It works, especially on "Shadows." The spoken word verses bothered me at first, but his phrasing on the chorus tied it altogether and now it's one of my favorite tracks on the album.
It was difficult to choose which songs to highlight. As always, I think good records work better taken whole, and this is one damn good record.
Turn it up!
The problem isn't them, it's me. My mind is rejecting structure in favor of abstraction these days. I can picture me cranking this up in my car some time before 2017.
ReplyDeleteHave you noticed that the lead singer sounds like Debbie Harry? Seriously -- dose guys is good. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteLoved Dylan’s version of Garden Party. Very cool find. Cleveland Jeff
ReplyDeleteThese three were all good fun. Shadows reminds me of The Hold Steady in a good way.
ReplyDelete- Paul in DK
Solid band. I've enjoyed all their albums and this one is very good, too!
ReplyDeleteNew record is great and glad to see them still making records. City of Inbreds (from their first album) is not just a great song but a great video.
ReplyDeleteI love this bad
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