Eccentric Los Angeles garage punks Wild Wing have always been difficult to pin down and their new record ‘New Futures‘ makes that task even harder.
They’ve been around since 2011, and on early records, like 2014’s ‘Another Victory for the Forces of Darkness‘ and 2017’s ‘The Glory Forever‘ they mixed twangy cowpunk with hook-filled garage rock and surf. Then on ‘Doomed II Repeat‘ (also released in 2017) they layered in psychedelic electronics for a sound, not unlike something Useless Eaters would put out. Now like the shape-shifters they are, the otherworldly ‘New Futures‘ is your soundtrack for storming Area 51.
After the spaced-out opening of ‘Futures’, it gets interesting right away. There’s almost a Primus-like weirdness to ‘Momma’s Got a Brand New Bag‘ which is followed by the pulsing garage rock crush of ‘Killing Joke‘ proving that they can deliver the punk hooks as well as anyone when they feel like it. The sharp angular shock of ‘Triumph‘ and sweeping psychedelic art-punk of ‘Me N’ Mine’ hold down the middle before they dust off the twang with the weaving ‘Ontario‘.
‘Runaround‘ is a demented Zappa lounge number while the hooky garage punk of ‘Dark Ages‘ and the epic and psychedelic ‘State of the Art’ close things out.
‘New Futures‘ offers a little something for everyone, especially if you’re one of the 500,000 people ready to storm Area 51. Or you may simply feel like staying home and sparking one up. Either way, this is your jam.
