Glam Skeletons in the Closet
If you ever wanted to know what it would have sounded like if Marc Bolan had sat in with Bowie’s backing band during the recording sessions for The Man Who Sold the World, you have only to listen to Wand’s new record 1000 Days. Or, rather, half of Wand’s new record is reminiscent of Bolan jamming with Mick Ronson and Tony Visconti. The other half feels like a half-hearted aping of Tame Impala.
The first three tracks fall into the latter category, as “Grave Robber,” “Broken Sun” and “Paintings are Dead” are unwieldy and over-considered. Their one saving grace is that they, like the rest of the tracks on this album, are pleasantly concise and clock in at three and a half minutes or less in duration.
Thankfully “Dungeon Dropper” is a marked improvement from its antecedents and the first taste of meat at the heart of this record. Its fuzzed out guitar and bass evoke early Bowie and early Rush in equal parts. A driving, distorted rhythm serve as delightful counterpoint to melancholic, atonal vocals, bringing out that early post-psychedelic, proto-glam sound in full effect.
“Dovetail” is a masterful, instrumentally driven cut—equal parts Brian Eno loops and Metal Machine Music, with an unmistakable tech house slant. While it is the work of a live band, it is not beyond the realm of imagining the song could end up in the rotation of a 4AM Boiler Room set.
“Lower Order” starts out with an effect-heavy, buzzed out bass that rips through the mix with wood chipper realness, bringing to mind Bowie’s “Black Country Rock” viewed through the lens of his acolytes in Placebo. Top marks all around.
For a record that has heavy progressive rock leanings, it’s a bit odd that the longest track clocks in at just a little over four minutes. The upshot here is that if you don’t particularly care for one song, you don’t have to wait too long for the next one. Once you get past the tripe, the heart of this record is solid.
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