Labels: Katorga Works
Review by: Alex Deller
For any present day band looking to name themselves after an apex predator or a fearsome or proud or perhaps ominous beast, the pickings are, it has to be said, relatively slim.
Think about it. Already taken are:
Great White. White Lion. Lion. Jaguar. Def Leppard. Tigertailz. The Tygers Of Pan Tang. Ratt. The Bats. Rhinoceros. Raven. The Eagles. Budgie. Crow. Counting Crows. The Black Crowes. Sheryl Crow. Praying Mantis. Scorpions. W.A.S.P. The Beatles. The Turtles. Tortoise. Griffin. Unicorn. Vixen. Diamond Head. Whitesnake. King Kobra. Mandrill. The Monkees. The Groundhogs. The Wolfhounds. Wolves Of Greece. Darryl Way’s Wolf. Jackyl. The Great Kat. Faster Pussycat.
And so on and so forth.
This of course highlights the problem Warthog must have faced when picking a moniker. Forced to choose from the lower echelons of beasthood, theirs is neither particularly threatening nor odious nor regal. They could ultimately have been called Hippo or Hornbill or Blobfish and it would have resonated in roughly the same sort of way. Furthermore, in terms of popular consciousness, the creature they have chosen is perhaps most closely associated with the amiable, portly, grunting sidekick to be found in a popular animated motion picture documenting the travails of a charming young lion cub. This is not unduly apt. If there’s a skein of relevance to be found, it’s perhaps that Warthog’s music is rather grubby and shit-caked. There’s no ‘Hakuna Matata’ here, but instead the opposite. Plenty of worries. If not for the rest of your days, then at least enough to ruin a long weekend if you dwell on things too much. And that’s just with three short songs. Feral, ugly, yellow-tusked songs that wish to gore you and fit in well with all the other feral, ugly stuff currently doing the rounds. Like a scruffier Stoic Violence or a less batty Crazy Spirit or a less involved Society Nurse maybe.
It’s really rather enjoyable.