Jameson Calantoc
Probably the best way to open a Wild Powwers album. It's short, sweet, it builds, it's energetic. The opening salvo of lyrics sets the tone for the whole album.
Favorite track: ...Sucks.
Tristán
One of my favorite releases of 2021 that still holds up even a year later. Grunge meets shoegaze meets riot grrrl. It's honestly so hard to even choose a favorite track because they are all bangers and flow into each other so perfectly.
Favorite track: Chrome.
Wild Powwers are a dynamic trio who come from the dark, dank corners of a basement in Seattle, WA. Throughout their several years relentlessly writing and touring as a band, they have grown their sound using the vastly different influences in their lives. They are often challenging themselves to write something completely different from the song before, and their upcoming album “What You Wanted” is the best representation of who they are and what they bring to the table yet. Produced by Sam Bell, (R.E.M., Minus the Bear, Weezer, Taylor Swift), and mastered by Ed Brooks, (Pearl Jam, Death Cab For Cutie, R.E.M.), "What You Wanted" runs the gamut from straight up punk rock ("Real Deal Phil" and "Pageant") to strangely beautiful psychedelia ("Tricky" and "Chrome"). Cathartic angular rock (“Sucks”) intersects with gorgeous, shimmering melancholy (“Decades”) and the many melodic shades in between. Showing a wide array of influences skillfully blended into a sound all their own; this album is a beautiful journey. Honest, raw, and relatable - it's "What You Wanted."
"As they always have, the band goes a long way on personality and making their songs as outstanding as possible. In the case of "What You Wanted", it comes from the members drawing from deep inside themselves to stack skyward riffs and its megaton rhythm section on top of ruminations on depression, Greek mythology, toxic modes of thinking, and brushing against death in Texas while on a marathon tour. (The latter an extreme circumstance of doggedly and sometimes exasperatedly living the life of a musician, another of the song’s topics.) The band wrangles their sound masterfully yet again here, pushing forward on "Bone Throw," showing a tender side of themselves on "Decades," and scaling toward arena anthem status on "Tricky." Wild Powwers have never shied away from the concept of writing all-caps SONGS, and on their fourth full-length outing, they put their best foot forward in the realm of songcraft." -Martin Douglas // Throwaway Style KEXP
"Seattle three-piece Wild Powwers can bring the hammer down with the best of them. The power trio hits with an attack that slams riot grrrl energy, power pop, and heavy-assed garage grunge together to exhilarating effect. Wild Powwers latest album will be embedded in a lot of Best- of- PNW music lists for 2021- ours absolutely included."
-Tony Kay // Artist Home
“The Seattle trio stun with raging lead single '…Sucks' that evokes an explosive meeting between Babes In Toyland and L7. For the rest of the potent album, Lara Hilgemann (guitar, vocals), Lupe Flores (drums, vocals) and Jordan Gomes (bass) alternate the wild with the mild, layering 70’s songwriter melodics, bass-heavy rock, and harmonic vocal interplay with the gritty patina of 90’s grunge angst. Hilgemann’s ferocious vocal blasts are unleashed sporadically as intense apexes that are bolstered or tempered by Flores’ more mellow flow. Straight-from-the-90’s grinder 'Bone Throw' features heartfelt exclamations throughout, 'Trans Am' is a driving hard-charger, and lively 'Decades' dashes from laid-back vocal Hilgemann’s rip-roaring indictment of life not fully lived. The chugger 'Pageant' catches fire with blazing guitar lines and ends with Hilgemann blowing a gasket.” -Jeff Elbel // Big Takeover Magazine
“Opener is a nice bit of sludgy grunge with some impressively throat-shredding vocals. The remainder recalls a slightly gloomier Hammerbox or Two Ton Boa with some shoegaze thrown in to give it all even more sonic resonance. The perfect soundtrack to be played really loud on long late-night drives”. –Jimmy Alvarado // Razorcake Magazine
“The sort of carefree grunge riff-rock that gets better the dirtier it gets. Each layer of meticulously gnarly distortion, each off-kilter lyric, drenched in garage-echo reverb, is pure Pacific Northwest filth” - KEXP
Recorded, produced and mixed by Sam Bell
Mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering
Artwork and layout by Eric Fisher
Insert photo by Jasmine Kara
Vinyl lacquers cut by Amy Dragon at Telegraph
Vinyl pressed at Cascade Record Pressing
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supported by 13 fans who also own “What You Wanted”
Man, it's hard to select a song as a standout on such a solid release. I feel like this album could pick up where Black Flag's In My Head left off. Jameson Calantoc