WIVES

So Removed

BY Oliver CrookPublished Oct 7, 2019

8
Like the Velvet Underground and the Strokes before them, Queens, NY, natives WIVES have taken New York City's trademark grit and grime, added their own experiences and created a record any rock fan under 35 can relate to.
 
So Removed simmers without ever truly exploding, creating a melodic post-punk rhythm the four-piece sit in comfortably for most of the album. This Interpol-style monotony isn't just incredibly hypnotic and enticing — it also creates a greyness that serves as an anchor to lyrics of isolation, anxiety and existential dread. But don't expect cynicism. Rather, there's a constant sense of optimism hiding somewhere between the fuzzed-out bass lines and the Stooges-esque wailing lead guitar.
 
New York City documents its changes through the music it produces. Whether it's the chaos of the '70s through Richard Hell and the Voidoids' Blank Generation, the struggles of the '90s via Nas's classic Illmatic, or the quick-paced glitz of the 2000s captured on LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver, you knew the state of the city from a listen to the radio.
 
With its combination of millennial confidence and Gen Z woes, So Removed's drudging exploration of high-rent and ecological collapse continues this tradition.
(City Slang)

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