‘FOUR DISGUSTING PEOPLE IN ONE DISGUSTING BAND’ runs the Tumblr tagline for Dublin four piece Wounds. Signed to In At The Deep End, their album comes out at the end of January. Entitled Die Young, the three tracks on review here contain what Pandora used to call ‘minor key tonality with extensive vamping’, or to put it plainly, a modern spin on punk with lots of shrieking.
The accompanying videos to No Future (see here) and Killing Spree (here) show a band tying themselves to punk’s DIY ethos and thrash’s party ethos, with a bit of puking, pissed-up nudity and blood-chewing thrown in. A house gets ruined, a rehearsal space gets played in, there’s lots of drinking and some beak-snorting, and the world keeps turning. Musically there’s a lot of straighforward progressions, a gnarly bass tone, a bit of singing (which will no doubt come into more focus on future records), lots of gang vocals and some swearing.
Dead Dead Fucking Dead is one of the laziest, most brain dead set of lyrics I’ve ever heard. The content of such wordplay is no doubt deliberate-this isn’t Enablers or The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, so hats off for sticking with the plan. This is dumber than a box of rocks but celebrates its stupidity, like their heroes the Stooges did many moons ago.
No Future doesn’t carry the same believable negativity as, say, Black Flag, or as much emotional gravitas as Rites Of Spring or One Last Wish, but it’s not trying to re-invent the wheel. It understands that the wheel is just fine, rolling along, minding its own business. This is the crux of this release; Wounds are a pit-starting powder keg, custom-wound for maximum flailing when you’re five jagerbombs in. Everything is at the forefront of the mix, pushed right up to the limiters.
Watching their live videos was a bit disappointing. Expecting Chariot-style gymnastics was a mistake – Wounds were just standing there, playing to a lot of people talking. Keep this band on record, you’ll get more out of it. Alternatively, go and check out Minor Threat, Discharge, Black Flag, Fugazi, Rites Of Spring or Minus to hear this done with more ability.