Reviewed by Lucky
The Wildcards – I don’t know anything about this band except that they are signed to Fat Hippy, and I like their name. That was reason enough for me to hand over £3 of my hard earned money to purchase this bastard at a practice at Captain Toms, quite a long time ago. In fact I think it’s taken me over two months to get round to reviewing this. Sorry for being so balls. Go read Flares & Seagulls instead, at least they update from time to time.So, The Wildcards. Their Myspace page describes them as follows:
“BY FUSING HARD EDGY ROCK & FILTHY FUNK TOGETHER THE WILDCARDS HAVE A UNIQUE EXCITING SOUND THAT'S RAW, FUNKY , DARK & DIRTY!”
They list their influences as Led Zeppelin, Guns & Roses, The Who, Nirvana, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but that not really what I think of when I hear them, I think Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Verve, The Mooney Suzuki and just a hint of Kasabian. But hey, maybe I’m just listening wrong. The CD opens up with “Highland People” which clocks in at a mighty 5:16, and features a lot of reverby lead guitar, which is what gives them the BRMC sound. It gets a wee bit repetitive after a while, it has a similar bassline throughout and it doesn’t have much in the way of dynamics, but the choruses are big, loud, swaggering and dirty – play this bastard loud as fuck and you’ll get a pretty good feel for this band.
Following on from there is “Find A Way” which in terms of musical style doesn’t tread too far from the path set by the first track, but is a slightly faster number. The effects on the vocals are present again, as is the reverby lead guitar, but this track lacks a bit of the substance of the first track and is somewhat forgettable.
The third and final track is “Old Addictions” which is much more rocking affair than the first two tracks. It sounds like it’s being played with some real vigour and it packs quite a punch. The problem again with this track, as with the other two, is there’s just nothing memorable about it. It’s like chewing gum. At the time you’re chewing it you enjoy it just fine but as soon as you spit it out, the flavour’s gone instantly and you’re left feeling emptier than The Tunnels on a Tuesday night. This band are the musical equivalent of sea-monkeys.
“So what do they do?”
“They just swim around.”
“And what else do they do?”
“Nothing really. Eventually they just die and then you throw them out”.
“Oh right. Well that kept me entertained for about four seconds. Let’s go play some Xbox”.
No offence to The Wildcards. These songs are actually quite decent, they just don’t really go anywhere and they don’t stick in the memory. Imagine if the football team you support played an entire season and got 15 wins, 15 draws and 15 losses, scored 50 goals, let in 50 goals, and finishing the season completely slap bang in mid table. Recreate that feeling by listening to this CD.
Rating ***
www.myspace.com/thewildcardsband
