Despite their impressionistic sound, Weed are actually an incredibly focused punk band. Their run of three stellar LPs, culminating with farewell album Born Wrong Love, could easily be taken as one overarching and consistent project.
While it would make sense to attack this project from beginning to end, newcomers will be introduced to everything that makes the band hum on Born Wrong Love. Their songs amble along with impressive stature for a standard three-piece rock setup. The production teeters on the edge of lo-fi cacophony as cymbals melt into thick slabs of guitar sludge, creating a disorienting haze that envelops Will Anderson's reverb-drenched vocal textures. It sounds like he's singing from a distance, as though you're eavesdropping on your basement neighbour recording their bedroom noise-rock debut.
This distance leaves space for the instrumentation to draw out the sullen melancholia that Weed are so adept at conveying. Anderson mutters, "I'm angry with myself" on "Leash," but it's the downward spiral of chord changes concluding the song that evokes the feeling of despair.
The band's scrappy rhythm section and sharp melodies keep things moving and recall Mezcal Head-era Swervedriver or Title Fight's similarly inspired 2015 record. Clocking in under 25 minutes, the album breezes by despite its density. By the time the well-worn shoegaze riff on "Are We Cool?" emerges, some familiarity feels comforting after the twists and dips that otherwise characterize the band's song structures. With a noisy grace, Born Wrong Love plays itself out as the bittersweet conclusion to a remarkably accomplished series of guitar pop records.
(Smoking Room)While it would make sense to attack this project from beginning to end, newcomers will be introduced to everything that makes the band hum on Born Wrong Love. Their songs amble along with impressive stature for a standard three-piece rock setup. The production teeters on the edge of lo-fi cacophony as cymbals melt into thick slabs of guitar sludge, creating a disorienting haze that envelops Will Anderson's reverb-drenched vocal textures. It sounds like he's singing from a distance, as though you're eavesdropping on your basement neighbour recording their bedroom noise-rock debut.
This distance leaves space for the instrumentation to draw out the sullen melancholia that Weed are so adept at conveying. Anderson mutters, "I'm angry with myself" on "Leash," but it's the downward spiral of chord changes concluding the song that evokes the feeling of despair.
The band's scrappy rhythm section and sharp melodies keep things moving and recall Mezcal Head-era Swervedriver or Title Fight's similarly inspired 2015 record. Clocking in under 25 minutes, the album breezes by despite its density. By the time the well-worn shoegaze riff on "Are We Cool?" emerges, some familiarity feels comforting after the twists and dips that otherwise characterize the band's song structures. With a noisy grace, Born Wrong Love plays itself out as the bittersweet conclusion to a remarkably accomplished series of guitar pop records.
