Labels: Absolutely Kosher
Review by: Andy Malcolm
Hot damn. The Wrens made one of the best albums of the year! Oh shit. I’ve ruined the review by telling you how good the CD is already. I’m such an
amateur. But anyway. I don’t think I would have ever predicted that the Wrens would make a CD at all this year, let alone one as downright awesome
as this. They’ve been away for so long, I was buying Wrens records when Collective still reviewed Wildhearts cd’s for Cavell’s sake! That’s how long
it has been since the Wrens released proper records (give or take a semi-new release on No Karma). I was fucking 18 years old when they recorded
their last album, crikey. I didn’t even know what music was back then, I only knew the radio and I hated most everything it played. Luckily, I escaped.
The Meadowlands (where the New York Giants & Jets play – probably it’s a general name for part of New Jersey, where the Wrens hail from) is 13 songs
(or 17 if you are a dork like me and got in quick for the limited version, the bonus songs are all very old and not that exactly good though, so
don’t worry) of pure indie rock wonder. The tone is set after the brief introduction of “THe House That Guilt Built” on the stunningly depressing
“Happy”, which is the exact opposite of it’s title. This song reduces me to rubble, building up ever so slowly with the Wrens expert use of multiple
vocalists and dischordant guitar tones to construct the utter feeling of sadness. The lyrics don’t exactly help either. That could be said
throughout the album, this record is hella miserable. I mean, they sing “i can’t type, i can’t temp, i’m way past college” on a song called “This
Boy Is Exhausted”. And for “Faster Gun” the lyric sheet merely says “snow scenes level lonely bastards”. Yet they also show a spirit to get back up
and carry on. Maybe that’s the appeal.
As ever, the Wrens utilise many instruments and layers to fill out their songs, and it was recorded at home (“in our living room” – man alive, I’d
like to see their living room), but probably for the first time on a Wrens record everything seems to breathe properly and reach it’s own level
without being obscured by everything else that’s going on, the balance is perfect and nothing is lost amidst the creativity that they have always
had. Everything has come together at once in some kind of crazy indie rock sad sad fireball. I love how they vary the main singers and the backing
vocals, and how each has their own unique character that they bring to the music. I love how they pile everything up and build to outpourings such
as on “She Brings Kisses” which just gets louder and louder until the finale. I love when they play a delightfully scruffy song like “Everyone
Chooses Sides” that finishes all of a sudden and for no apparent reason. I love how the old line “I think we’re done” crops up on at least a
couple of songs including the stand out “Boys, You Won’t” with the deliberately obliterated intro, melancholy piano, drop dead lyrics, and so much
else that is so good. If you ever enjoyed Built to Spill, songs like this will knock you for six.
They are still able to bring those delightfully messy punkier efforts, where everything is wilfully scuzzed up and played faster, such as on the
fuzzy (and previously mentioned) “Faster Gun”, where it all gets distorted and blurred, reminiscent of older Secaucus era songs. Or “Per Second
Second” which is the most absolutely messy song on here. I can’t make much out of this one, but it rocks.
By rights, the Wrens should have achieved a cult indie rock status held by the likes of Built to Spill or Superchunk by now, but instead they chose
to only release 3 albums in 10 or so years. I forgive them though, because the 3rd one consistently reaches the peaks that they hinted at on
previous efforts (e.g. “Rest Your Head” on Secaucus) for it’s duration. No question, the Wrens have made an album of albums. It gets better with
every listen. I hope I don’t have to wait so long for the next one. And it’s nice to listen to a record made by people older than me for once.
If you are aging, rubbish, and like indie rock, you should get this album right away. Thank you.