As previously reported, Vancouver pop punk crew Wars have cranked up the intensity for their latest release, the hardcore-flavoured FaceTime: Return to Mushroom Island, We Will Smoke Again. The angsty album arrived today (April 14) through frontman Chris Van Der Laan's Boat Dreams from the Hill label, and you can sample the whole package online now.
Van Der Laan had previously said in a statement that he'd wrecked his vocal chords screaming on the collection, but the harrowing screeches found on the 10-minute assault make up for his sacrifice.
The release isn't a cut-and-paste hardcore collection, and bounces anywhere from scissor-beat punch-ups, to seafaring screamo, to sassier, noise-saturated scare-punk salvos in line with mid-'90s bands like Angel Hair. For the most part, Van Der Laan howls like a maniac, but he also gets buds Sean Hawryluk (Baptists), Zoë Verkuylen (Baby Control), Jon Redditt (War Baby), and Giles Roy (Woolworm) to hop on the mic as well. The crew-questioning feedback piece "Re: The Weather / Friends Always," meanwhile, uses a sample of poet John Giorno.
You'll find the full recording down below.
Van Der Laan had previously said in a statement that he'd wrecked his vocal chords screaming on the collection, but the harrowing screeches found on the 10-minute assault make up for his sacrifice.
The release isn't a cut-and-paste hardcore collection, and bounces anywhere from scissor-beat punch-ups, to seafaring screamo, to sassier, noise-saturated scare-punk salvos in line with mid-'90s bands like Angel Hair. For the most part, Van Der Laan howls like a maniac, but he also gets buds Sean Hawryluk (Baptists), Zoë Verkuylen (Baby Control), Jon Redditt (War Baby), and Giles Roy (Woolworm) to hop on the mic as well. The crew-questioning feedback piece "Re: The Weather / Friends Always," meanwhile, uses a sample of poet John Giorno.
You'll find the full recording down below.
