WACO – ‘Sundown’ EP
WACO – London, England, United Kingdom.
WACO, a four-piece Punk-Rock band from London, who have just released an EP of five feel good tracks with barrel loads of honesty and reality thrown in.
We’ve featured a lot of bands from Venn Records or at least, our own Alex Blanchard has. So I thought it was high time I did one. Support DIY and Indie labels, they are keeping music alive after all.
For a band to spark interest in a person’s brain, they have to be approachable. There has to be that special something that prompts the response to the, ‘So, what do you think?’ question to be more than just ,‘Yeah, they’re alright‘. WACO have that something.
The band’s sound breathes a classic Punk-Rock vibe, that reminds you bands such as The Clash, as well as later groups such as Rancid and their earlier sound. The mid-paced tight rhythms carry that infectious sound that echoes where it all began. That’s not to say they don’t have a harder edge, as they clearly have in both an element to the current sound and prospectively.
When you describe a band as “honest”, most of the time you are speaking in lieu of the lyrics and that is fair enough. Myself however, as much as that is important, I believe that honesty can be conveyed through the actual music and presence of a band, and WACO have this.
Beginning with ‘Wrangler’, Sundown gets it’s wriggle on. Kicking off with the classic ‘1, 2, 3, 4!‘, before chunky guitars and bass break out atop of strong defiant drumming. The heavier end of the band’s sound, it’s a great opener and solid slab of English Punk-Rock to make any fan of the ’76-’77 sound croon.
‘…life’s confusing, its a mess, so if you’re feeling a bit puzzled or muzzled? You are not, alone’ – Wise words.
Track one really is great and achieves the great task of all “track ones” and successfully draws you in before stepping down to track two. Which, comes in from a different beat of almost Folk-like build. ‘Agitation’ is slower and concerns said emotional affliction. In this case, leading from the unknown feeling of simply being lost, the WACO boys just want rid of it.
As a contrast, two really shows the bands knack is easily trek from fast, old-school Punk-Rock to a good, honest Rock song. Again, this reminded of The Clash, particularly the slower rockier tracks off London Calling. There’s a great video for this one, which I’ll post at the bottom.
‘Dusty’ picks the tempo once more for another bouncy and low Punk song that pounds through again with drummer Welshy giving it his all, adding a sense or urgency that only fuels the low rounded, classic Punk bass and higher noted guitars. The slower sections of the song break things up nicely. I’m a big fan of Jak Hutchcraft’s vocals, they have real earthen tone and strong English accent that really suits the Rockier Punk sound, as well as the more mellow elements.
‘Jezebels’ is on the slow again, chugging along in the band’s sing-a-long fashion. Slightly less upbeat than track two, which also boasted a slower tempo, it again adds a bit more depth and breathes the band’s honesty. Plus, sometimes it’s better to forget. It’s a worthwhile message.
‘It’s time to face it, she’s never coming back, pack your shit and go awayyyy…’
To round things off, we have ‘Dungeness’, for another blast of the old-school but fresh sound. Track five deals with the disaffection Punk-Rock is known for and is best at displaying; ‘I’ve tried society, I’ve done my best, if you need me I’m in Dungeness…’
It doesn’t matter where you go, if you’ve had enough, then that’s that. You may always go back to feeling disconnected, as the WACO boys say, but there’s no harm in trying your best.
A faster song for the most part, it ties off the EP nicely and is itself tied off, with a slow, welcome gang chant that should and will get the crowd going. Nice one gents, 8.5/10.
Find all things WACO below:
- For updates, Facebook and Twitter.
- The Sundown EP is available from, iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, bandcamp and via Venn Records – Here.
‘I’ve done my best, I’ve done my beesstttt! I’ve done my best, I’ve done my beesstttt! aaand I’ll never regret anything’
#StayFresh.
