Sitting outside with the sun finally breaking through the clouds was pretty much the perfect place to listen to WOAHNOWS debut album, ‘Understanding and Everything Else’. Opener ‘Sounds Like Spitting’ immediately spells out everything that’s great about WOAHNOWS. A guitar already straining with energy and excitement plays 4 bars before the rest of the band follows suit and bursts into your ears like an uninvited, but oh-so-welcome, guest at the stale and boring party that was going on in your ears before you discovered this Plymouth three-piece.
‘Understanding and Everything Else’ sees WOAHNOWS really nail down the sound they’ve been crafting since forming in 2013. That’s not to say that the album is a one-trick pony, though. Tim Rowing-Parker’s guitar work is as unique as it is contagious, whilst drummer Adam Wherly absolutely hammers his kit with precision and strength and just that little bit of style that is missing from a lot of punk records.
This record has no bad song, seriously. ‘Puncher’ starts off slow and almost Great Cynics-esque, whilst ‘Livid/Rise’ is WOAHNOWS’ most experimental effort so far, with disjointed guitars and drums battling against each other, but it still never feels too obscure or too far from their signature sound. In this song, Rowing-Parker sings “How I’d love to feel excited again” but, shit, he just needs to listen to his own record. WOAHNOWS have discovered that rare and amazing talent at being able to craft style of song, whilst making it clear it’s written by them.
The record has a beautiful ebb and flow from insanely loud to beautifully quiet, from slow-paced to massively rushing. Rowing-Parker’s vocals fit perfectly over every section. His voice is one of the highlights of the record, conveying each song with such emotion and energy. They’ve kept the slightly lo-fi quality to the vocals that was present in their early recordings and this can only be a good thing – it provides the record with a raw edge that allows it to capture the essence of watching WOAHNOWS play live.
A personal favourite is ‘No Such Thing’. The song is dark, fast and punchy and it somehow manages to work in a drum-solo breakdown that works perfectly and remarkably avoids being cheesy. It draws you in, demanding your attention, before everything stops for half a second before slamming you against the wall, whilst Rowing-Parker strains his vocals and ends the songs with a yell of “Oh fucking hell!”
The band has echoes of Good Luck and Bangers in their sound, but WOAHNOWS truly are one of the most exciting and unique bands of the past few years (especially bands coming from the UK) and this album deserves to be in your end-of-year list. In fact, just stop reading this and go listen to them now. Seriously. Do it.
CONOR MACKIE