Search - Wrens :: Silver

Rock lives thanks to the Wrens

05/26/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"How typical that I am the first to have anything to say about this unsung album and unsung band. If you love guitar bands who can write and perform songs that will astound, you will love this album. There's a lot of noise and distortion yet it all fits in. And, they have a sense of humor about it all: who else would name the sixth song on their first album "6"? This album has 23 songs, and there's a lot going on in each one of them. Among my favorites-"Ruth" 5 different melodies, 1 song, what a climax! "6" is a great short introduction to what this band is all about; rhythm, melody, harmony and distortion. The 22nd song is called "Strengthless" although breathless is how you feel after hearing it; it's not for the faint of heart. The only reason for not giving it 5 stars is that the production is somewhat flawed (apparently this was made in the basement of their house so that's not hard to understand),a couple of the songs are not as excellent as the others,and their followup Secaucus is even better, so we have to leave some room. Nonetheless, this is the album that the major labels do not want you to hear. Because the Wrens prove that creativity lives on in the world of rock, and they are not going to tone it down for general consumption. More power to them..."

Representing a maelstrom of rock influence

Luke Rounda | Lawrence, KS | 05/24/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Wrens have indeed been brilliant under the radar much longer than Conor Oberst has been terrible in the limelight; however, if you don't dig "William," then the Wrens' latest album, "The Meadowlands," may not be your cup of tea, either.



However, speaking of purloined riffs, I smell one in the simple arpeggiated guitar opening of "Dakota," though I can't place it.



Their latest is decidedly "emo-pop" for lack of a less vomit-inducing genre stamp. "Secaucus," their best, and most widely-listened, is in more the same vein as "Silver" with its interesting blend of styles that come off like a painter splashing his favorite colors on canvas. Aside from "rock," or perhaps "indie" (the catch-all term to describe "white kids with guitars playing slapdash lo-fi pop songs about spatulas," [...]), it's difficult to describe the Wrens sound more accurately. I've heard this record called "shoegaze" before, but it's far too blunt and has balls much too large to be lumped in with records like "Loveless" and "Souvlaki."



The Wrens' fetish for stategically-deployed discord and tunelessness, like hot sauce on a birthday cake, is unusual but not necessarily unwelcome depending on context, and indisputably interesting... most of the time. You mostly notice the thing their lead guitarist does all the time to spice up the noise, a magic trick involving a particular noisy chord shape high up on the neck of the guitar that howls with dissonance. It's a Wrens branding iron. Might hurt at first, but you'll always know when you hear "that sound" that you're listening to the Wrens. And as Sonic Youth and Blonde Redheads can attest, dissonance can be pretty damn cool given the right birthday cake.



Sometimes they go overboard. "Strengthless," while interesting, plays like music at Satan's birthday party, teetering between lunatic pop song and absolute pit of hell, junior high garage band swank, and then takes a moody break in the middle of its seven and a half minutes before coming back with a bang.



There are plenty of more straightforward-sounding moments on the record. Right from the getgo, "Napiers" plays a fake-out, beginning with typical "artsy" radio squelch, before spinning into a menacing, head-banging hard rock riff that echoes with feedback. Some of the layering here may be what led some to namedrop shoegaze; the tidal roar of punky, Chord of Satan lead guitar blitzes by underneath the hard rock posturing upstairs until no one hears anything but "damn, that sounds good." Basically, it's the kind of song more bands need to write and more people in power need to be listening to. So should you.



It's really hard to call anything on "Silver" truly "bad." As a whole it requires more than the average attention paid to a record in order to appreciate, but given the right environment and state of mind, the listener can get drunk on the Wrens."

Es una tuna en la luna

Bigby Suvins | Northfield, MN | 02/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not a review but a rebuttal directly from the Wrens saying (now I quote them from memory), "What an idiot to say that a song from Silver copies Bright Eyes...it only came out years and years before Bright Eyes lost their virginity"....Anyways back to the music...uh great stuff, hard to find, worth it, good luck finding it cheap. When you write a review please understand that you should know what you are talking about...Punk started when the Sex Pistols (falsity) came out with (you get my point)...another chardonnay please. Keep on the sunny side and always keep your compass west."