Wake the Sun: Debut EP Review
As a blues-rock collective, Wake the Sun are entering an overcrowded subgenre. This might not have been an issue 50 years ago when the lines between blues and rock weren’t as distinct.
In the present, since most music lovers tend to categorize their taste with extreme precision, it’s important for new bands to make bold statements right out of the gate.
Gone are the days when labels like Motown would groom artists for future stardom. The market has established a new trend. It’s either boom or bust for most.
In the case of Wake the Sun’s debut self-titled EP, the aim is to do more with less. There are only four songs on their new project and listeners will be thrown into the fray as soon as they click play.
The first song, “Wicked Souls,” is a booming first single for the band. Thank God they didn’t waste anytime pulling listeners into the music.
With only four songs to work with as mentioned above, time is certainly of the essence. I’m betting Wake the Sun were fully aware of this fact and they sequenced the album accordingly.
Jeff Tamarkin, a music critic, echoes my sentiments. “Wake the Sun plays loud rock! Let me repeat that in caps for emphasis: WAKE THE SUN PLAYS LOUD ROCK!” It’s as simple as that in all honesty. Nothing more, nothing less, which is not a bad thing in any case.
The second track, “Grace and Faith,” is less catchy than the first, but edgier and subsequently more dynamic.
My only gripe as I listened to the first two songs is that I didn’t think of the lyrics as a strength, but the voices from the singers blended into the songs to create its own aesthetic. In short, they could’ve wailed and whined gibberish and I probably wouldn’t have cared.
But back to the positive, I have a strong feeling that the band would be a whole lot of fun to see live, which isn’t something we can say about all collectives. The recording felt raw and unfiltered. It’s nice to hear music that feels like it wasn’t heavily edited in the studio.
All five of the band members are in their early twenties, notes Tamarkin, so they weren’t alive to see Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Black Sabbath in their prime. Even groups like Metallica and Pearl Jam are beyond their reach historically.
Nonetheless, those artists were likely on their short list of influences along with contemporary stars like Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon and the Black Keys.
The strength of this EP, in my mind, is toward the end. “Politics” is a truly gripping song and it’s my personal favorite out of the four since it turns down the loudness to focus on the vocal delivery. There’s still distortion over the vocals, but it keeps a listener’s attention without trying to be too catchy.
As for the final track, it is a reinterpretation of the first song “Wicked Souls.” This is very risky. Using one of your four choices as a rebuttal of another may not interest everyone, but the two versions stand alone and that is the biggest point to take away from the matter.
Personally, the first version is more interesting but the second may grow on me since it is mellower and the bass is executed brilliantly. It reminded me of a pre-Kid A Radiohead track, which is a plus without question.
LAST CALL
In the end, with only four songs to work with, this EP serves as a sampler. It is not clear if this band can keep a listener’s interest over 40 minutes but I believe they have the right formula as of now.
I’m a fan of shorter projects so there’s no need for Wake the Sun to enter the album game just yet. These four songs are jazzier, tougher and a lot more interesting to listen to than some band’s 50 minute projects.
Yikes!
MY FINAL VERDICT: Wake the Sun is one of those groups that I need to see live in order to confirm my hunch. They’re a throwback in the best way, meeting the standard in a modern context. Sonically, this project was stellar. An improvement in the mix of lyrical content and vocal delivery could send these guys over their competitors.
