why+the+wires - Flame Failures - LP (2015)

Labels: Jetsam-Flotsam – One Percent Press
Review by: Alex Deller

why+the+wires play some very good stuff indeed: taut, jumpy, jangled post-hardcore that variously touches base with Jawbox, June Of 44, Moving Targets, Silkworm and Sicbay but ultimately has a spirit all its own. The music has a springy, elasticated quality that leaps between tangled, urgent and complex to muted and melancholic, and the singer’s raspy vocals convey a highly-relatable sense of weariness and desperation. The trad guitar/bass/drums rock set-up is augmented by the inclusion of saxophone, accordion and piano, all of which are tastefully woven in and lend ‘Flame Failures’ a sense of rich texture despite its otherwise brittle, skeletal sound. The whole thing is wrapped up in some rather lovely design work that’s well suited to the music it houses, making for a sweet package that’ll be a surefire hit for fans of the noisy, awkward, emotional rock music that labels like Quarterstick, Dischord and Southern once put out.