The Wrecks - ‘Panic Vertigo’ (Review)
For any band starting out in the music industry, the journey towards getting your music heard by the masses is often a long and relentless one. So when the Californian five-piece, The Wrecks, seemingly exploded on Spotify, gaining over 9 million streams with their first single,‘Favourite Liar’, intrigue and awe drove me to delving head first into their debut EP, ‘We Are The Wrecks’. With a running time of just under ten minutes,
The Wrecks’ debut was a short and sweet burst of a band firing from all cylinders, with a sound that combines the wailing lead guitar riffs and a vocal delivery from vocalist Nick Anderson comparable to that of AC/DC with vocal melodies, song structure and charismatic undertones which can be found on any track on The Cab’s ‘Symphony Soldier’. This is combined with Billy Nally’s simplistic but hard-hitting drumming style to make pop-rock songs that oozed with energy and left the listener craving more.
Still carrying the same slick, charismatic undertones from prior releases, The Wrecks quickly return with five tracks which sees the band dipping their toes into the waters of unseen territory. Whether it was dropping distorted guitar tones for that of a softly strummed, clean guitars in the pre-chorus of ‘Figure This Out’ or the use of an acoustic guitar to introduce the title track ‘Panic Vertigo’, it is clear that the band have taken a greater attention to detail on this release, with the dynamic variation allowing more room for tracks to explode when the band choose to harness the high intensity of their first EP.
This dynamic development displays itself perfectly on the track ‘Way With Words’. Co-written by All Time Low frontman, Alex Gaskarth, the track builds itself around a playfully, picked riff on the lead guitar, produced with a slight delay which creates a calming ambience to the first verse. The rhythmically driven bass on the verses helps to cement the energy of verses, whilst using intricate fills to captivate the audience's attention towards the end of phrases. Much like the dynamics of the track, the lyrical content provided by this track takes the listener to on a journey of emotions, with Anderson contrasting between the vulnerability of heartbreak in verse one to cutting confidence in the second verse that resembles the attitude packed onto their prior releases; “I’ve moved on fine, just ask your friends”.
Another highlight of the EP came in the form of ‘James Dean’, a track heavily inspired by Def Leppard's ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ in terms of rhythm, vibe and chord progression. The track features heavily distorted guitars with call and response between the rhythm guitarists staccato, barre chords and the wailing unison bends played by the electric guitarist carrying the introduction. The lyrical content takes a juxtaposing stance to the ‘cool’ aesthetic that the instrumental of this track and many other classic rock songs employ, focusing around a young Anderson’s attempts to be widely viewed as a cool person, before the self-aware declarations in the chorus; “Bad hair, black jeans, not cool suits me”.
‘Panic Vertigo’ sees a definite improvement for The Wrecks. Whether it’s through the rock driven, roaring vocals and shrieking guitars on the chorus of ‘Revolution’ or the soothing, self-reflective verses of ‘Way With Words’, the EP sees the band bringing more to the table than just fast paced rock after fast paced rock song. This EP shows The Wrecks bringing representation to the ‘uncool’ and arguably more authentic viewpoint of the rock community and acts a voice for those who don’t quite fit into the in crowd, whilst providing undeniably catchy tunes in the process.
