Local Album Reviews

Wisecrack – Pining for the Road

December 14, 2012 Paul Battison 42 comments

Folk punk is a unique genre of music. It touches on two ends of the musical spectrum—on one hand it can be easy listening and perfect for just sitting back and admiring but on the other, the raw energy can make you just want to get up and go. Lincoln based folk punk band Wisecrack, get the balance inch perfect on their debut album, Pining for the Road.

Pining for the Road

The three-piece act mix folk, punk and country brilliantly to create merry ‘drinking songs.’ Their lyrics are ‘political and anti-fascist’ but send out positive messages which add to the vibrant, uplifting feel of the album. This theme runs throughout Pining for the Road from start to finish, and the album has an uncanny knack of leaving you in a very jolly mood after listening through it. The band cite acts such as Bruce Springsteen, Frank Turner and Chuck Ragan as their main inspirations and different aspects of these great musician’s style shine though in Wisecrack’s music. The band do a brilliant job of drawing from their influences to create their own infectious sound which reverberates through the whole of Pining for the Road.

The opening track, 7 Day Hangover, is a nice blend of electric and acoustic guitars and gets the album off to the perfect start. It’s a real feel good tune and the type of song you’d find yourself singing with your friends after one too many beers. You know you’re in for a treat when Wisecrack front man Matt Colwell sings:

“We’ve partied hard and then we crashed the cars, all that’s left is an empty room, these six strings and a hungover afternoon.”

The second track, Angel With Two Right Wings, is perfectly structured with a slow, quiet, acoustic build up that springs to life in the chorus in the shape of electric guitars and an attack on right-wing politics. The use of a banjo in the chorus also adds to the depth of the song, and illustrates Wisecrack’s ability to combine different instruments and musical genres effortlessly to create their own recognisable sound.

Don’t Pray for Me is a catchy but meaningful song with a good chord progression and a smart guitar harmony layered over the top. Matt Colwell voices his opinions on religion with the thought provoking line:

“This is God’s country and we’re supposed to be his children but there’s better fathers in prison.”

The title track of the album, Pining for the Road, is a highlight of the album and much like the opening track, is very upbeat and carries a lot of energy. The song contains the signature punk rock formula of quick palm-muting in the verses followed by the ringing out of chords in the choruses. It’s about the band’s love of travelling and touring whilst playing music.

Towards the end of the album, another standout track is the hugely infectious Sunflower Song. It contains elements of ska, folk and punk and to put it in the words of the band themselves, they once said:

“It’s impossible to listen to it without a smile on your face.”

Overall Pining for the Road is a fine album and Wisecrack are a band that Lincoln can be proud of. They have a big love for music and this radiates through the album. It sends out messages about important issues such as politics and religion, but it does it in a positive way and inspires the listener to just enjoy music and have a good time.

For me, this is what music should be about and the world needs more bands like Wisecrack.

The Popdogs – Cool Cats For Pop Dogs

November 3, 2012 Michael James Barraclough 252 comments

The city of Lincoln produces some great local bands, and these local bands can create some truly jaw-dropping tunes. Most people have a saddening habit of overlooking local music, so lets move the spotlight onto one Lincoln-based band that has me VERY excited.

Today I’ll be reviewing the upcoming debut album of a group of very clever canines who really shouldn’t be overlooked, no matter who you are, or what music you like.

I mean come on, throw the dog a bone.

This is the album artwork for The Popdog's new album - Cool Cats For Pop Dogs.

The Popdogs upcoming debut album:
Cool Cats For Pop Dogs

From Lincoln-based power-pop band The Popdogs comes the stunning new album, Cool Cats For Pop Dogs. The album features ten terrific tunes, including the seriously catchy “Queen Of The U.S.A”, and my personal favourite, the metrical and melodious “Honest Guy”.

The songs are simply structured for the most part, but that just adds to the seamless flow that every song possesses. Easy-listening, tuneful, and catchy as hell. It would be prudent to mention the classic power-pop guitar work in this album; the whole collection of songs is rife with bright melodies and well-articulated chords.

Each song retains the classic nuances of The Knack, R.E.M, The Beatles and The Byrds amongst other great power-pop bands, but with subtle modernisations that make the genre more accessible. For example, you won’t find the dominant bass riffs that this genre of music is known for (My Sharona by The Knack is a good example here), nor will you hear constant vocal harmonisation. What you WILL hear, are bright arpeggios in just the right places, and vocal harmonies being used to enhance choruses and other key parts in the songs.

It is, in my opinion, a very efficient and attractive design.

Other identifiable aspects of The Popdogs music include a real sense of rhythm. I challenge you to listen to their track “Kelly’s On” without bobbing your head along with it. Some of their songs are driven by punchy sequences of power chords for the melodies to float on and weave around. If you listen to Poison Heart by The Ramones, you’ll notice that The Popdogs have a bit of punk pedigree too.

Onto aesthetics, and you cannot deny, the album artwork is also pretty damn cool.

Have you ever seen a more awesome looking dog?

As far as the band goes, James Styring is the man behind the microphone providing those classic pop vocals, something which he does phenomenally well. Those bright guitar chops you hear are courtesy of Mr Tim McKeating.

Once again, the album is called Cool Cats For Pop Dogs. You can find The Popdogs on Facebook, and you can find them on Reverbnation. Check ’em out, and give them your support.