Waco is the weird older brother of Hungry Ghost, the obvious bad influence, oddly creepy and absolutely brilliant. It spits in the face of conformity, evolves on the grittiness of its sibling yet (somehow) adds a more mature approach to chunky riffs and alcohol fuelled singalongs.
The beer soaked, sweaty masses sitting at your local pub can stand up (or stay seated) and rejoice as Violent Soho continue along their path of Australian domination and proving that filthy garage rock still has a future.
The only issue facing Violent Soho’s new effort was trying to dethrone their remarkably successful predecessor and overcome the massive weight put on their shoulders. Thankfully Waco, like a steroid infused gymjunkie, lifts it with seamless ease.
It develops on all the strengths and characteristics of a Violent Soho record; screechy sing a longs, ear-grabbing hooks and beefy chords, and doesn’t trip itself up on focusing too hard on taking the next step and trying to ‘redefine’ the genre or the band.
‘How to Taste’, as the name suggests, is the exciting entrée to begin the meal to come, making you salivate at the mouth and crave the following courses. It grips you by the scruff of the neck and pulls you along for a 45 minute whirlwind of snapped guitar strings, broken drumsticks and blown amps.
It’ll have you throwing your head back and forth while also giving you time to slow down, use your brain and even get a little sentimental.
The men from Mansfield know what they do well and they harnessed it, spit polished it and unleashed it. The early releases of ‘Like Soda’ and ‘Viceroy’ were the perfect alley-oop for the slam dunk of Waco, which tears the ring off the backboard and ruins the game for everyone else who wants to play.
[include_post id=”474202″]’Viceroy’, sounding like a long lost track off their self-titled, gives the band’s now classic singalong aspect to the album and will prove to be the earth shattering hit of the album. While definite album favourites, half the tracks on the album could have been released as singles, which proves the four-pieces ability to craft smash hits out of nowhere.
‘Slowave’ and ‘Evergreen’ prove this, give birth to rapid flurries of deafeningly blissful static that’ll have you hanging on for dear life and absolutely loving the ride.
The disc oozes with musical diversity as they continue to develop upon the big brother maturity while also still holding onto the mad child at heart.
‘Sentimental’ and ‘Low’, with their mixtures of haunting wailing versus mixed in with the deafening screams of Boerdam (vocals) and sudden heavy power-chords illustrate this too and fro, really grip the listener. They aren’t simply defined or cornered in by a catchy chorus or killer riff but rather show some real song progression and depth.
While Waco is seemingly rough and rugged on the surface, it is these songs that prove the breadth, intuition and intricacy the band want you to discover and mull over after your initial listen. It’s truly an emotional record, and Boerdam’s soaring wails really take the listeners along for the many ups and downs of the record.
The beauty of Waco is its care free attitude and not taking itself too seriously. Violent Soho distance themselves from a zombified and stale scene of ‘popular music’ and develop a sound they can label as their own.
Every song is automatically distinguishable as a Violent Soho jam and can be hailed as a triumphant. It’s simple, it’s dirty and rugged and an absolute stand out album. The boys from the sunshine state can pat themselves on the back, job well done.
WACO is out this Friday the 18th March 2016, I OH YOU
