Wednesday 3 September 2014

Album Review: Fail Forward by Wank For Peace


I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that most people’s music collection in any genre is filled with bands from either the UK or the United States. That can definitely be said about mine. Sure I have some bands from Australia like Frenzal Rhomb and The Smith Street Band and there are a few bands from Europe such as The Apers from Holland, The 20 Belows from Denmark and of course ASTPAI from Austria. At some point last year I randomly discovered a band from France named Wank For Peace who I thought were pretty good. In July I had the opportunity to see them in May at The Windmill in Brixton with Ducking Punches and River Jumpers which you can read about here. This Autumn Wank For Peace release their second full length album Fail Forward.

Wank For Peace describe their sound as melodic punk and hardcore and that description certainly fits on Fail Forward. Opening track Friends First is just over a minute long and really shows a statement of intent from the band. It’s a ferocious opening for the album and the rest of the album doesn’t really slow down.

Track two – Heavy Shoulders really stood out on my first listen of Fail Forward. Using a lot of gang vocals gives the song a “we’re all in this together” vibe as lead singer Flo sings with a huge amount of passion. The same came be said about the next song Five Steps To Nothing, which is a driving song with more gang vocals and a great fists in the air chorus.

Up next is Was That What You Expected Kid? In this song the band questions your life and asks if you’re living the way you dreamt of when you were young. The fast paced vocal delivery gives the verse a great pop punk feel. The chorus goes “cause this life, that I live today, doesn’t allow me to be the person that I wanted to be” will resonate with anyone stuck in a job that they hate who feels life isn’t going the way that they wanted.


The next stand out track is Choices/Feedback. It’s only 1 minute and 17 seconds long but packs a whole load of punch. The whole band manages to show off their immense skill with some great guitar riffs, interesting bass lines and some brilliant drumming. This song is followed nicely by Twelve Cheese Sticks. It starts out with a couple of cymbal taps before the band bellows out the words “we were invincible, we were invincible, we were alive, we started out with nothing.” A very catchy chorus which will go down brilliantly with a live crowd.

After a brief Interlude comes another shorter song named Mea Culpa which is then followed by The Sleepless. This song is about always questioning everything, whether it be the people around you or yourself and striving for something more.


The album finishes with another standout song – We’re Not Done Yet, Sorry. It’s a slow building song which will be another fan favourite played when it is played live. There is some anthem like qualities on this song with its slow paced deliberate vocals and a more mid tempo musical arrangement.

In Fail Forward Wank For Peace have a great second album. It has everything you want from this type of music, it’s melodic and yet aggressive, brilliant musicianship and some fantastic vocals whether it’s Flo on his own or the whole band. But most of all this album is delivered with passion. You can tell that every single word that’s sung or note that’s played is coming from someone who really believes in what they are doing. That’s why I love this album and why I love Wank For Peace.

Pre-order and stream two songs here: https://wankforpeace.bandcamp.com/album/fail-forward

Now listening to All That We Know by The Roughneck Riot

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