Wand | ||
| Allmusic Biography : When the Los Angeles group Wand formed in 2013, they played a wickedly spooky brand of psychedelic garage rock tinged with heavy metal. Over the course of three albums recorded in a couple years, the bands leader Cory Hanson wielded full control over their claustrophobic sound. The bands lineup changed along the way and Hanson loosened his grip on their sonic boundaries, allowing the new bandmembers more say in their newly classic rock- and modern pop-influenced approach. 2017s Plum was the first Wand album to reflect this change. Hanson started the band with drummer Evan Burrows, guitarist Daniel Martens, and bassist Lee Landey and immediately dove headfirst into a sludgy, psychedelic garage rock. They quickly put together an abundance of material that straddled the line between melodic and noise-heavy, issuing split singles with artists like Mikal Cronin and Meatbodies before being signed by Ty Segall to his Drag City spinoff label God? for the release of their 2014 debut LP Ganglion Reef. Wand embarked on a tour supporting Segall for the release of the album. The bands next record was recorded over a 12-day span by Chris Woodhouse at The Dock in Sacramento, California, and saw the band expanding its sound with synthesizers and showing a deeper heavy metal influence. Golem was released in early 2015 by In the Red Records. Not a band to waste any time, Wand returned before the end of the year with their third album, 1000 Days. Released by Drag City proper this time, the album saw Wand incorporating more electronics into their sound, while integrating their metal and psych elements even further. They also toured frequently, playing many shows with Segall, who was impressed enough to subsequently play a number of shows with Hanson as an acoustic duo. He also added Hanson and Burrows to his backing band the Muggers for his 2016 touring dates. Thanks to this, Wand was uncharacteristically quiet on the recording front during 2016, with Hanson spending time working on a solo album. The acid folk-inspired, lushly orchestrated The Unborn Capitalist from Limbo was released by Drag City in late 2016. Around that time, Wand expanded their lineup by adding guitarist Robbie Cody and keyboardist/vocalist Sofia Arreguin. This also led to a change in the way the band wrote songs. Where previously Hanson brought finished songs to the rest of the group, now they spent time in their rehearsal space working out songs together. This new style of writing and the new members led to some sonic differences on their 2017 record Plum, on which the creepy, claustrophobic psychedelia and bludgeoning metal of the past were downplayed in favor of classic rock influences and more expansive-sounding indie rock. The same lineup of the band soon went back to the recording studio and cranked out another EP in the democratic vein of Plum. The seven-song Perfume was issued by Drag City in May of 2018. The shift away from their early garage rock fervor to more atmospheric songwriting fully solidified on 2019s Laughing Matter. The lengthy album was sculpted from improvised jams and sketches, Hansons vocals sounding more and more like Radioheads Thom Yorke as Wand explored more introspective indie rock territory. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 7 Title: Ganglion Reef Released: 2014-08-26 Tracks: 10 Duration: 35:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Send/Receive (Mind) (03:07) 2 Clearer (03:34) 3 Broken Candle (02:40) 4 Fire on the Mountain (I-II-III) (05:04) 5 On Ganglion Reef (00:19) 6 Flying Golem (03:20) 7 Strange Inertia (Ctrl Alt Death) (03:20) 8 6661 (03:43) 9 Growing Up Boys (03:46) 10 Generator Larping (06:07) |
| Ganglion Reef : Allmusic album Review : After a handful of singles, Los Angeles power psych band Wand arrived with Ganglion Reef, their debut full-length and a nonstop parade of acid-dipped, pop-minded forays into both heaviness and wavy folk detours. The band was handpicked by garage godfather Ty Segall for release on his God? record label, and the two have toured together as well as worked in other capacities, so the similarities between Segalls tuneful mind-expanding garage and Wands are understandable. Both approach songwriting with a fearless love of exploring guitar tones and unexpected dynamics, but where Segall builds up walls of guitars with layer after layer of fuzz to achieve his mind-bending sounds, Wand relies more on time-honored techniques of trippy 60s production. Standout track "Broken Candle" sees vocalist Cory Hanson singing a thin, wispy melody over battling organs and highly effected acoustic guitars, the stomping acid folk rhythms building and building until the entire mix is coated in an over the top flanger effect for a few seconds before fading out. Its by-the-books psychedelia taken right from the Are You Experienced? playbook. Elsewhere, Wand tends toward sludgy proto-metal guitars and clunky rhythms on tracks like "Fire on the Mountain" and the stony funk-metal groove of "6661." "Growing Up Boys" goes the opposite direction, offering a laid-back country-rock dirge in the style of solo John Lennon, but with all the spaced-out experimentation of Pink Floyd. The songs always waver between saturated extremes of heaviness and gentleness, with whispering vocal harmonies and dazzled acoustic guitars always seconds away from distorted organs and the bands bevy of freakish effects. Ultimately, Wands gift for songwriting guides the endless psychedelic tug of war that is Ganglion Reef, offering listeners something turbulent and strange but deeply rooted in strong tunes. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 7 Title: Golem Released: 2015-03-17 Tracks: 9 Duration: 36:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Unexplored Map (02:29) 2 Self Hypnosis In 3 Days (03:48) 3 Reaper Invert (03:41) 4 Melted Rope (04:11) 5 Cave In (04:12) 6 Flesh Tour (03:46) 7 Floating Head (03:08) 8 Planet Golem (06:35) 9 The Drift (04:39) |
| Golem : Allmusic album Review : Wands debut album Ganglion Reef was an impressive neo-psych statement that weaved together various elements like folky guitar sounds, tricky arrangements, duel guitar wanderings, and, above all, hooky pop melodies into an entrancing whole. Their second record, 2015s Golem, cuts out anything folky, paves over some of the fragile psych weirdness, and instead piles on the heavy, heavy noise, stomping into protoplasmic Black Sabbath territory at times. Tracks like the pummeling "Self Hypnosis in 3 Days" and the heavily phased "Cave In" sound like they were lifted directly from the set of a band that might have opened for Sabbath in 1970. "Planet Golem," too, delves deeply into some dirge metal, with weird synths and riffs brutal enough to knock out a stegosaurus. There are still a few moments when Cory Hanson and Daniel Martens click off their fuzz pedals and the band heads back to the dreamier territory of its debut ("Reaper Invert" and the almost tender "Melted Rope"), and the album-ending "The Drift" switches gears entirely for a bit of near ambient, totally oceanic metal balladry, but really this album is about nightmarish power, not Technicolor dreams. In the hands of a less talented band, it could have ended up as a real mess, a total disappointment. Luckily, even though they have changed up their approach, the guys in Wand didnt lose their ability to craft songs with huge hooks. Now they are thunderous and ugly hooks instead of weird psychedelic ones, but it works just as well. Their new sound might scare off some of the psych lovers who dug their debut, but for anyone looking for some weird heavy rock noise, Golem fits the bill. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 7 Title: 1000 Days Released: 2015-09-25 Tracks: 12 Duration: 33:03 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Grave Robber (03:33) 2 Broken Sun (02:43) 3 Paintings Are Dead (01:45) 4 Dungeon Dropper (02:13) 5 Dovetail (04:05) 6 1000 Days (02:42) 7 Lower Order (03:39) 8 Sleepy Dog (02:36) 9 Stolen Footsteps (02:52) 10 Passage of the Dream (03:38) 11 Little Dream (00:36) 12 Morning Rainbow (02:35) |
| 1000 Days : Allmusic album Review : The guys in Wand are a prolific bunch. 1000 Days is their third album in a year, following their weirdo psych debut Ganglion Reef and the more heavy metal-influenced Golem. This time out, the L.A. band blends the tricky psych and heavy metal into something more organic, adding keyboards and electronics in the process. Its their best-sounding record yet, casting aside any vestiges of lo-fi in favor of a huge sound that envelops the listener in a hazy cloud of fuzzed sounds and warped dynamics. They melt acoustic and electric guitars into a swirling mix that will get heads spinning, with booming bass and echoing drums holding down the bottom. Most of 1000 Days sounds like a perfect blend of the first two albums that capture both the thudding power of heavy metal and the baroque weirdness of psych pop. Tracks like "Grave Robber" and "Dungeon Dropper" lean a bit toward the heavy side, while the dreamier songs like "Passage of the Dream" and "Broken Sun" creep over to the psych side. "Morning Rainbow" even ends the album with some seriously acid-y folk. Its an impressive job of fulfilling the promise of the first two albums, amping up both the production and the songcraft to a new level. Despite how focused and tight most of the album is, though, Wand still indulge their experimental nature a couple times. The electro-tribal instrumental "Dovetail" is a wobbling trip into inner space that feels like it could last for 20 minutes and not get boring, "Stolen Footsteps" is bedroom synth pop with a majestic melody, soaring synths, and a very tinny drum machine. This willingness to take chances and explore oddball avenues is one of the things that makes Wand so good. They may be one of many, many neo-psych bands out there in 2015 whipping up retro-flavored noise, but this record proves that they are one of the best and most imaginative. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 7 Title: Plum Released: 2017-09-22 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:19:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Setting (01:00) 2 Plum (04:16) 3 Bee Karma (03:55) 4 Charles de Gaulle (04:17) 5 High Rise (02:43) 6 White Cat (04:14) 7 The Trap (04:44) 8 Ginger (02:10) 9 Blue Cloud (07:50) 10 Driving (07:06) 1 [untitled] (16:43) 2 Blue Cloud (live) (08:39) 3 [untitled] (02:31) 4 [untitled] (03:37) 5 [untitled] (05:29) |
| Plum : Allmusic album Review : After exploding on the scene with three thrilling albums of psychedelic fuzz released quickly in succession during 2014-2015, L.A. trio Wand took a step back. Two of the members (leader Cory Hanson, drummer Evan Burrows) ended up joining Ty Segalls touring band, then Hanson put out a solo album, the acid folk-inspired The Unborn Capitalist from Limbo, in 2016. When Wand started working again it was with a couple major changes: they added two new members and shifted their band politics from dictatorship to democracy. In the past, Hanson had brought songs in and the other guys filled them in; now the bandmembers worked songs out together in their rehearsal space. Regardless of ones political inclinations, its rare for a band to go from one person making all the calls to spreading the work around without it causing a major decline in quality. Sometimes a ship needs a captain to keep on course. Sadly, as Plum proves, thats definitely the case with Wand. The bands new approach charts them away from intense guitar workouts that verged on heavy metal and stickily claustrophobic psych pop toward a more traditional indie rock sound thats not a million miles away from what bands like Wilco are doing. Simple melodies, twisting twin-guitar lines, obtuse keyboards, and a widescreen expansiveness are the order of the day, and only occasionally do Wand Mk II manage to wrestle their new sound into submission and make something interesting of it. For example, "Charles de Gaulle" is brainy and full of hooks, with sweet vocals from new keyboardist Sofia Arreguin that offset Hansons harsher tone, and the skittering "White Cat" is nervous, punchy, and not too far from something John Dwyer might cook up for his Damaged Bug project. Mostly, though, theres either something important missing (energy, wildness, drama) or something unnecessary added (fancy keyboards, a sense of restraint), and its impossible to listen to Plum without wondering why Hanson changed things so drastically when they were working so well. Why did he think that the world needed another slick indie rock combo when he and Wand were riding high atop the mountain of psych rock bands? This is a question the three very long songs that end the album -- the slow-rolling ballad "The Trap," the elongated and very indulgent tie-dyed jam "Blue Cloud," and "Driving," a trad rock ballad tailor-made for montage scenes on a major network drama -- will give one plenty of time to ponder as the mind wanders and attention is spirited away like someone must have spirited away all of Hansons best guitar pedals. Its a clunky end to a disappointing album, one that sounds less like a reinvention and more like a giant step down a path best left unexplored further. Maybe they can strip back down to a trio, get their pedals back, and return to being a first-class psych band instead of second-rate indie rock troubadours. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 7 Title: "From a Capsule Underground" Released: 2017-12-20 Tracks: 12 Duration: 42:52 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Alpha New Mexico (03:14) 2 Clearer (03:37) 3 Broken Candle (02:58) 4 Fire on the Mountain I-II-III (04:16) 5 Flying Golem (03:22) 6 Fugue State 23-23-23 (03:31) 7 Strange Inertia Ctrl Alt Death (03:45) 8 Growing Up Boys (03:19) 9 Generator Larping (04:22) 10 The Screaming Eye (02:45) 11 The Leap (04:05) 12 Gong Report 4_11 (03:38) |
 | Album: 6 of 7 Title: Perfume Released: 2018-05-25 Tracks: 7 Duration: 29:25 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Perfume (07:29) 2 Town Meeting (04:59) 3 The Gift (04:05) 4 Hiss (00:51) 5 Pure Romance (03:36) 6 Train Whistle (03:18) 7 I Will Keep You Up (05:07) |
 | Album: 7 of 7 Title: Laughing Matter Released: 2019-04-19 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:07:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Scarecrow (05:17) 2 xoxo (04:05) 3 Bubble (02:05) 4 High Planes Drifter (02:41) 5 Walkie Talkie (04:32) 6 Thin Air (04:34) 7 Hare (03:35) 8 Wonder (06:22) 9 Evening Star (05:45) 10 Tortoise (02:21) 11 Rio Grande (03:44) 12 Airplane (09:11) 13 Luckys Sight (06:10) 14 Wonder (II) (04:05) 15 Jennifers Gone (03:01) |