October 22, 2012

White Wires :: WWIII

Ottawa trio White Wires quietly released their third full-length, WWIII, on Dirtnap Records this past summer. Though I have long been a fan of Peach Kelli Pop—the solo project of White Wires' drummer Allie Hanlon—I've only recently caught on to the classic power-chord-littered and power-pop-laced punk of the White Wires themselves, thanks in part to a promo CD in my car that features "Did You Forget My Name?"—a brash and simple two-minute number I can't seem to shake. Fans of Gentleman Jesse, The Equals, The Exploding Hearts, and The Nerves: if you're not already in the know, take delight and dig in: you may have just found your new favorite band. New tracks like "Down On My Own" and "All Night Long" fly out of the gate with richly addictive melodies, snappy foot-racing rhthtms, and humming guitars that climb from muted tension-builders to open fuzzy celebratory crescendos. According to the band, WWIII was conceived as more of a pop album. "We wanted to make a record that had some dynamics, with lots of ups and downs," explains White Wires on their Bandcamp. "At the same time, we wanted to still have a lot of variety on the album from one song to the next. I think these are some of our best songs yet." Not a single one of WWIII's 14 cuts miss a beat or opportunity to stick some bubblegum onto your brain (see: the bass line and harmonies on "Please Write"; the call and response vocals on "The Magic"; the lyric "one of these days someone's gonna gossip on you" from "Let's Start Over Again"). WWIII may just be the best punk record of the year, and perhaps rivals only The Tough Shits for the most fun listen.

Buy the digital from Bandcamp and the vinyl from Green Noise.

White Wires - "Down On My Own" (from WWIII)
White Wires - "Did You Forget My Name?" (from WWII)

The White Wires

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