Man, what a revival Noise-Rock is having in 2024! Or wait – it‘s not a revival, as that implies a kind of “death” beforehand and as genres cannot really die (here that’s a great thing unlike with political ideologies). However, the genre hast definitely seen a huge rise lately and this year it seems to be running onto center-stages front and center. Cold Wives will surely be seen on festivals all around the world and they surely deserve a great spot on the line-ups; after listening to their self-titled debut record.
Chat Pile, Uboa, Couch Slut. Or also the Jesus Lizard, Unsane/Human Impact, KEN mode. The list of amazing Noise veterans either continuing to release great records or returning with awesome songs is nearly as long as the one with great new artists using Noise elements as major pieces for their oftentimes very unique sound. With Cold Wives we are somewhat on both lists as the band members have gathered quite some experience over the years – we get Brendon Tobin on the guitar, who’s been in The Drowning Season and many other bands, his bandmate from Made Out of Babies and Bad Powers was also in Unsane, Human Impact and several more; their drummer Josh Paul has been part of the Dead Sea and Dining with Dogs and second guitar player Cory Brim has just released and awesome record with Glassing. But enough with this list, let’s get down to business and onto these nine tracks here.
What becomes apparent from the very first second of this staggering effort is the fact that Noise is a backdrop for this band or maybe just one element of the web they are weaving. The threads used here are pretty thick and stubborn, but at the same time also clear and clean enough so that any kind of doubt simply lotus-effects itself from it. One can trace some Sludgey lines at the beginning of the opener – think of early, wild Melvins or maybe Kylesa – before the track bows down to some Grungy roots in the vein of Alice in Chains or Soundgarden. However, do not mistake this as some mockery, second-grade version of the Grunge-Sludge that our all-beloved Louisiana swampsters in Thou have already given us this year. Where Bryan and his fellows emphasize the Sludge-side of things more, these guys here surely rather focus on the aforementioned Noise-Rock icons. The fact that they are able to play with soundscapes so much that one’s mind drifts off into these realms of association and dissociation only demonstrates how versatile they really are. The second track ”Foreign Matters” displays their love for the Punkish side of things – here the likes of McLusky or early Black Flag might be heard, both surely great bands to be compared to. When the Post-Punk brevity and vein-pumping starts in ”Terra Prime”, the third track, one is likely to have already succumbed to this record and will follow wherever it may lead. For that is another element that should not be forgotten here: Cold Wives write great songs and many or most of their tracks have a really melodic value, even if that might not be audible at first glance, but there is always a hook, a melody, a certain something that will keep you listening, eager to hear more.
This record surely will certainly rock many socks off, will see a lot of fist-pumping, head-nodding and even some sweating off and rubbing against the person next to you in the pit. Maybe not moshing, for the music might be a bit too complicated for that. But isn’t that exactly what Noise Rock was all about? That little extra pinch of madness and complexity separating it from the Punksters? Cold Wives is one of these bands that carry the torches from one wave to the next and they definitely ensure that it will not go out, will not die. They are not revivalists but modernists – welcome gentleman, glad you are here, hoping you will stay!
