Acoustic – TREMORS

Wisecrack – Pining for the Road

December 14, 2012 Paul Battison

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.

Jake & The Jellyfish @ Duke of Wellington

October 25, 2012 Paul Battison

Jake & The Jellyfish are every bit as intriguing and innovative as their name suggests. With their infectious mix of punk, folk and reggae with a violin to boot, their live shows bring to the table the energy and passion which demonstrate everything which is great about the UK punk scene at the moment. In fact, their headline gig alongside three great local bands at The Duke of Wellington last night, proves the age-old saying wrong: punk is not dead—it’s thriving.

Jake & The Jellyfish

Opening act Joe Davis, from Lincoln based band, That’s Not Me, warmed the crowd up nicely with a solo acoustic performance. He even took a leaf out of the great Bob Dylan’s book by bringing out a harmonica for one song to accompany his guitar playing and singing.

Stereoepic were up next, a four-piece pop punk band from Gainsborough. With their catchy choruses and teenage life inspired lyrics, they’ve gone with a tried and tested formula, similar to that of pop punk giants Blink 182 and New Found Glory. The formula works very well for their live shows though, with the band having a friendly stage presence and bringing a real feel good factor to the audience.

The third band to take to the stage for the night were Wisecrack, a three-piece punk band from Lincoln. This was their first show with a completely new line-up with vocalist and guitarist Matt Colwell, drafting in a new bass player and drummer to replace previous band members who had left. For anyone on the night who wouldn’t have known this snippet of information however, I don’t think they could ever have guessed. The band played with the skill and confidence that made it easy to believe they’d played together for years. Playing upbeat songs such as the title track from their first album, released earlier this year, called Pining For The Road, the band managed to get the crowd moving. Perhaps the highlight of their performance was the hugely uplifting Sunflower Song, where half of the audience joined in with the band to sing along. I have a sneaking suspicion Lincoln will be seeing a lot more of these guys in the months to come.

Headline act Jake & The Jellyfish were last up on stage and they proved to be the perfect band to crown a memorable night at the Duke of Wellington. The four-piece outfit from Leeds are hard to nail down to a particular musical genre which is a compliment in itself. They manage to knit together punk, folk, and reggae to form an innovative blend of music which is a treat to experience live. Think of combining Against Me! and Frank Turner with Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen and you’ll come up with a cocktail similar in taste to that of Jake & The Jellyfish. Playing songs off their E.P called Landfills, which was released last year, the band converted the audience into a sea of dancing bodies and flying beer. They ended the night by coming into the crowd to play the painfully honest, but beautiful track Same Old, Same Old, which went down so well, the audience asked for an encore.

I turned up to the gig thinking that with a name as inventive as Jake & The Jellyfish, this band had to be something special. They did not disappoint in any way.