I was given the opportunity to write about Anxious Wave's new Ep before gets release so I said why the fuck not. I was very intrigued by the demo with the unorthodox hardcore punk sound and knew I would enjoy some new stuff.
With better production on this one, I can actually differentiate multiple influences I may not have realized before. Listening to this I could compare the sound to the classic punk bands I've mentioned before (Dag Nasty, Bad Brains etc.) but now with a little non single Nirvana type of stuff, and even hints of dare I say...The Blood Brothers? In my opinion, its there. Anxious Wave keep the furious funk punk style in check even more with this ep, sprinkle in some Blood Brothers style slow parts with the dissonance, and the aggressive Nirvana "Negative Creep" style riffs, mostly makes me think of that song.
The first song gives off that eighties punk vibes with a nice bass line joined in by an anxious punk riff and some Rollins style vocals. Plenty of funk with that bass throughout the song and thats what just makes me think its a good time live. All I can think of is two step city. A good intro that wastes no time and jumps right in.
Now the next song starts off like a Blood Brothers song I feel. Think of something like "Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck" but not as obnoxious. Clean sounding guitars, and a smooth drum pattern. Now that I think of it, the whole song kinda reminds me of BB. The vocal styles in this one get passionate with some "Woah wo's" or whatever the fuck its called and still remain aggressive and hoarse. Guess you could consider this one a ballad.
The next one is a straight punk sound, but blended together with that Rock 'n' Roll guitar style and some heavy bass. Gotta love the lyric "I'm sorry, all your friends are dead!" only to have that chorus lead into a hard slow breakdown that actually has tremelo picking. The tremolo only leads to a slower and heavier riff guarenteed to Bring Da Muthafuckin' Ruckus. I think this one is my favorite.
The next song is another slower ballad style. I say ballad but don't worry its not melodic or anything. This one is still pretty dissonant and mirrors the BB style I mentioned, it does speed up at times and eventually leads into a heavy one chorded breakdown. This song is a pretty powerful wave of emotions with the sound.
Time to get back into the chaos. The following tune starts off with an eerie sample and leads into a dissonant riff I don't even know how to describe. All anxiety inducing aggression in this song. the guitr patterns move up and down constantly but doesn't hide that groovy Rock 'n' Roll bass. Call it mosh city when you see it, The lyrics in this one seem pretty relatable too for bonus points.
As for the last song, let's call it the Outro. This is interesting. All you hear is an eerie piano riff and quiet symbols along with some strange yelping, almost sounding like a cry for help. Kinda makes me think of a movie where someone is going through a lot of shit and the camera shows the sky and revolves around it while show transparent images of the character suffering.
So this is my experience with Anxious Wave's new Ep, I hate doing x/10 type of stuff, but take my word for it. My favorite type of hardcore is the bands that take the genre and use obscure influences to spice it up. Anxious Wave are a good example of it, I think what seperates them from the rest is the eighties vibes they give off.
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