By Molly McCowan
The hook that Wire Faces lays down in the first track on Diamonds & Gold – entitled “Magic Mountain” – is one that wriggles and buzzes in the net between your ears. It’s sticky, in a hum-it-in-your-sleep kind of way.
Wire Faces is Shane Zweygardt on drums/lead vocals, Ian Haygood on guitar/vocals and Menyus Borocz on bass. Diamonds & Gold, the newest release from the trio, is punk at its most postmodern. This album is a room full of harmonic riffs, dissonant chords, gritty bass and a cacophony that shows perfect self-restraint. The songs display a well-balanced trifecta of noise, energy, and musical ability.
“Snake Eater” is one of the most widely accessible tracks on the EP, also featuring the most captivating intro to any song on the album. “Visage” features surfer-style guitar licks over a solid beat and Zweygardt’s punchy, shouting vocals.
Even at only six tracks long, the EP as a whole is ebullient: It seethes with energy and a kind of musical chaos that hearkens back to the drunken harmonics of Fugazi; the deliriously driven riffs of the Talking Heads; the primal yell of the Pixies. It’s fi tting that the album was recorded at The Blasting Room (the famed FoCo nesting ground for punkers like Rise Against, NoFx, The Casualties, and more).
Together, the members of Wire Faces are out to prove that three musicians can bring just as much sound, energy and emotion as ten less driven ones. Three cheers for the return of post punk in its raw form – the way it should be.
myspace.com/wirefaces
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