Monday 29 April 2013

Wes Mantooth

Band submission. "Wes Mantooth are a couple of rapscallions from New York who play Rod-Serling-Ghost-Punk music. They are in the process of recording their next EP which is titled Von Ghoul. This is a new song that will be released on their website this Saturday entitled Electric Shocks & Flowers. The song was written by Wes Mantooth and engineered/produced by Stephen Kellner."

The song starts off with a very melodic, atmospheric.  reverb-heavy guitar and some distant voices (that were most likely sampled from somewhere). It kind of reminds me of Sonic Youth’s “Teen Age Riot”, but with traces of post-rock influence. The same riff continues with distortion and a pumping bass drum kicks in, furthering the “Teen Age Riot” comparison (though I should point out that they are not the same, it just really reminded me of it when I first heard it). Then the whole band jumps in with the bass playing a great, punchy, but melodic part that matches the guitar perfectly before becoming more rhythmic to allow the vocals to take the forefront.  The vocals match the energy perfectly. They’re raw and breath-y as one would expect from a punk/garage band, but sometimes drop out to reveal a gentle, melodic side. This contrast is astounding and engaging, since it never seems forced, and all natural. There’s also a great gang vocal chorus that makes you want to sing along, regardless of what you’re doing. The bridge gets real noisy and distant before pulling back in for a final burst of energy. Overall, I was definitely feeling some similarities to bands such as Japandroids or Cloud Nothings. This track is awesome, and I’m certainly looking forward to they’ve got following it, and will definitely be checking out what they’ve done before it.
1. Electric Shocks & Flowers

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