Wilberforces- Haunted
8/10

Starting with the pummeling waves of drums in ‘Wipeout’, if you bought this CD blind you may think you got yourself a contemporary surf album. But that couldn’t really be further from the truth. Biting, gritty and abrassive punk rock made by Auckland’s Thom Burton, Emily Littler, Chris Varnham and a revolving door of drummers, Haunted was recorded with Callum Sleigh at the kit. He, and various other drummers employed thereafter, abandoned the band to Melbourne, I’m not even sure who’s drumming for them now. Changing line-up aside, Wilberforces has always impressed me with their passion, firey wit and spitting attitude. They’re always intense and powerful live, Emily and Thom’s sarcastic senses of humour and morbid views playing off each other well. They rumble and shake the foundations of Auckland’s live scene, threatening to overtake it at any moment but unfortunately seem yet to have gotten there. Haunted is a very impressive, well-rounded, and brilliantly produced masterpiece of a debut album, and the band should be very proud. Third track ‘My Mind Is In My Paws’ is a concise pop effort with Dale Cotton’s mastering making the band sound like a polished, younger and angrier version of The Clean. ‘Sirens’ is an instant stand out, the coalescing guitars, sedative bass, interplaying vocal shouts and taunting melody all combine to make a stunning, angry, amazing punk pop song. Finally you can hear Chris’s organ properly, at 90% of their shows I stare at his organ but can barely make out his parts. The levels are adjusted just right on Haunted, everyone involved knows what they’re doing, the burnt-out but brutally determined group shell out their talents for a CD that captures a band with so much promise it’s dizzying. Never does the jangly pop guitar sound relent, only the focus sounds mildly lost in the final couple of tracks. Weird background murmurs on the extended jam of ‘A Grandma Name’ provide an odd ambience but the song retains its structure as it’s reigned in toward the end. With their shimmying, crystalised effects pouring over the troubled rhythm section and Thom’s meandering vocals it’s a potent mix, and here they get it just right.
Sarah

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Album, Reviews
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