HIGH ROTATIONS

Violent Soho

WACO

I OH YOU

18 March 2016

Review by Luke Stefanac

To say 2013 was a massive year from Mansfield’s finest Violent Soho is a drastic understatement - their third album ‘Hungry Ghost’ catapulted them into the Australian mainstream and find recognition long deserved. From playing major Australian festivals to cracking the Hottest 100 in spectacular fashion, Violent Soho have been given the mantle of being the saviours of Australian alternative music (no pressure). So fast forward to 2016, where the boys have taken time to write and record their fourth album, ‘WACO’. Named after the town in Texas, ‘WACO’ follows in the footsteps of its predecessor while managing to walk its own path, delivering the most ambitious Violent Soho album yet.

Opening track How To Taste starts the album by really hammering home the fact that the band hasn’t lost their edge, sucking you in with dancing guitars before throwing you straight into the pit. Just as expected, the opener and a good part of the album throws the delicacy out the window as the crashing drums, growling bass, vicious guitars, and howls from Boerdam pummels the listener with huge walls of sound. This is exemplified by tracks like the throttling Evergreen and non-stop Blanket, which manage to forgo any delicacy and thrash about with urgency. In spite of all this, ‘WACO’ has been formed by balancing these exploding phrases with the delicate and atmospheric, juxtaposing the old and new elements that now make the band whole. Songs like the droning Slow Wave and ferocious Holy Cave manage to toe this line, pushing the extremes of the album further and further apart, and these polar opposite pieces still fit perfectly into the grand puzzle that is ‘WACO’.

While the balance between these two halves is woven through the album, there are songs that embrace delicacy, melody, and exploration without being filler tracks, and instead highlight the new ground Violent Soho is treading on. Tracks like No Shade, Low, and So Sentimental help to breathe new life into the band by focusing on the growth of their songwriting and willingness to go through the unknown. No Shade is driven by the bouncing drums and pulsing bass, providing a platform for the atmospheric and minimal guitar work to weave around playfully as the vocals float on top and burrow in your ears. So Sentimental paints a different soundscape and has more bite than No Shade does, but it embodies said idea of restraint, keeping a steady foot on the accelerator rather than simply slamming the song into overdrive. While some of these points aren’t drastically new or groundbreaking, it’s the little things that show the band isn’t afraid to try experiment, and that’s a good thing.

Bolstered by the singles Like Soda, Viceroy, and the title track which are all classic Soho, ‘WACO’ is a fantastic album that explores new sounds and more self professed “stoner philosophies”, and it just feels great. The album embodies Violent Soho’s continuing growth in songwriting, musicianship, and ambition, and in doing so sees the band successfully stepping up their game.