Album Review: Wenches – Effin’ Gnarly

Ordinarily, you wouldn’t expect a band to be introduced as a blend of Metz and AC/DC. Mainly because one is noisy and filthy and the other is hard rock. But since I enjoy both bands and styles of music in their own bubbles, it’s only natural you want to investigate an album which claims to combine both.

And what exactly does it sound like? Well, the album title covers it perfectly. Because Wenches make a hell of a racket whic can only be described as fucking gnarly. Fast and furious, Wenches blend metal and punk, and distil it through a classic rock funnel to create something wholly original and immensely enjoyable.

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The initial moments of opening track “Mama, Wake Up” contains the viciousness of Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down”’s intro before it settles into its own identity. Quickly laying down the law for itself, there’s oodles of groove and slightly tamer moments, allowing the track to breathe before it kicks in again.

Indeed, groove is a theme which is found throughout the album as “Bad Man” gives nods to Motorhead’s “Bomber”, albeit even more bombastic. However, the natural nod is to AC/DC where the groove also heads into boogie territory and the riff of “What’s Next to the Moon” could have easily featured on any Bon Scott-era album and continues on into “My Lady’s On Fire”. While the raspier vocals found throughout the album never feel out of place, you half-expect Scott’s inimitable denim-clad drawl to join for a verse.

While that may dominate for a few tracks, there’s also an evil Ozzy-era Sabbath tinge to be found in “Six to Midnight Man”. Similarly, the epic (in the true sense of the word) closer “100,000 Years” gallops like a heavy metal anthem of days gone past. But much like the album’s opener, there’s plenty of breathing room and simpler moments before building back to the intensity found throughout the rest of the album.

Theoretically, an album like this shouldn’t even exist. It shouldn’t work. But it does by picking out the elements of metal, punk, noise and rock and carefully knitting it together. It won’t be the loudest or dirtiest album you’ll ever hear and yet, it might have easily been released in the 70s and no-one would have batted an eyelid. As simplicity and complexity mix, there’s a similar cock-sure sneer to the brisk listen, akin to early Eagles of Death Metal.

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What separates this from your more traditional noise-mongers or modern post-punk is instead of throwing everything in their arsenal at you, Wenches know when to pull their punches to draw you back in. It’s gritty, dark, will push you away as quickly as it will want to hug you and could probably do with a long shower. Effin’ Gnarly is likely to be the most apt album title you’ll ever come across, for that is what Wenches are.

Effin’ Gnarly is out now

Check out all the bands we review in 2021 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!

Wenches: official | facebook | spotify

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