Monday 14 March 2016

Album Review: Inconsolable by Warm Needles


Another album I'm extremely late to the party for was Warm Needles’ 2015 album Inconsolable. Warm Needles are a band from Long Island, New York.


The opening track on the album is called Dig My Grave. The song begins with some great guitar chords before the lead vocalist begins to sing. He has a throaty voice, similar to Matty Jo Canino from RVIVR. This is some excellent fists-in-the-air sing-a-long pop punk that sets up the album nicely. The second track on Inconsolable is No You Hang Up. It starts quickly with "I Still Think Of You, I Try To Forget You Everyday, The Complete Paranoia Of Seeing You Again, Are You Running Into My Friends, Cos I'm Running Into Yours". Clearly this is a break up song. The lyrics are hugely relatable, everyone has had those feelings at some stage of their lives. Musically the song is a chugger; it never really goes into high gear but it still manages to pack some punch. I imagine that this song goes down especially well at a Warm Needles gig with its great potential for singing along. FML starts with some gentle cymbals before being joined by some crunching guitars. Like the previous two tracks it's fully focussed on big fists-in-the-air sing-a-longs. The strain that comes from the singer’s voice helps give the track some emotion and gives the listener more reason to care about the song. There is also a great guitar solo midway through the track that serves as a build for one last big chorus.

Kneewalker is the title of the fourth song on Inconsolable. The tempo feels like it has been raised on this track, which comes as welcome change for me. It's still pretty simple pop punk music but it's oh so enjoyable. The chorus is one that will get stuck in your head for day as the singer goes "Everything Is Awkward, Everything Is Awkward Now" over and over again. Fleshed Out is a shorter track that begins with some fast buzzsaw guitars before the singer’s gravelly-styled vocals come in to carry the melody of the song. Lyrically the song is fairly repetitive but sometimes this is fun. The constant calls of "Bury Me" will be in your head immediately and will allow you to sing along with the song from the first time you hear it. Bed Weather starts with a much different style musically to what I've gotten used to so far. It's a lot slower and there is a lot of feedback used with the guitars that creates some great effects. The whole song goes along at a slower pace than the previous songs, which I thought was good - variety is always welcomed on a pop punk record. That being said, there are still plenty of hooks and another extremely catchy chorus to get stuck in your head, like all great pop punk songs should have. Ghost Holes sees Warm Needles go back to a faster paced tempo. There is an awesome use of gang vocals and harmonies throughout the song that gives the track another fun element to go along with another catchy chorus.

The eighth song is called Gutted. I can really imagine this song being played by The Queers with Joe Kings surf pop punk style of singing. It also works fantastically well with the Warm Needles singer’s gravelly style as well though. The crunching guitars at the beginning of the song really caught my attention and the chorus of "It Would Have Been Easier, It Would Have Been Easier On You" is another that will be embedded in your memory very quickly. Team Individuality starts out with more distorted guitars, which makes for a more serious sound. The song is about how everyone deals with bad things that happen in different ways. The example Warm Needles use is hiding away in your room. Something I've often done. I like that the band have tackled such a topic, it's not something I've ever known a pop punk band to do before so all credit to Warm Needles for that. The tenth and penultimate song is Dried Up. This is an excellent, fast-paced pop punk song that will really get a crowd going, it's another that really caught my attention and is a highlight on Inconsolable. There are so many great moments to shout along with the band and to throw your fists in the air. The faster pace adds a new element of aggression into the song, which is very welcomed by this listener. Inconsolable is finished with the song Severed Clean and is another big highlight on the record. After a reasonably lengthy musical introduction, including a nice rumbling bassline, we are treated to a great mid-tempo sing-a-long finale. Severed Clean is about cutting away the negative things from your life and feeling better for it. The line "Cut The Pain Right Out Of Me" is a great one and is one of my favourite choruses I’ve heard in a while. The ending of the song is great too with the whole band shouting "Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut, Cut!" after a excellent building musical interlude.

All in all Inconsolable is a very catchy pop punk record. The vocal style really helps set the album apart from a lot of other bands in the genre. I can see Warm Needles progressing to become one of the biggest bands in the genre.

Stream and download Incolsolable here: https://warmneedles.bandcamp.com/album/inconsolable-lp

Like Warm Needles here: https://www.facebook.com/warmneedles

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