Earlier this month, Wolvves unleashed their second EP to a torrential crowd of revelers at the Trunk Space. We were there and when I say “there” I mean we were right outside the front door, basking in the humid air spilling through the doorway, because it was far too dangerous to venture actually inside, at least, at my age. A surging, seething mass of youngsters fills the inside to maximum occupancy; a merry band of riotous youths intent on breaking away from the daily drudgery of impending adulthood in a flurry of sweaty bodies and loud, really loud, rocknroll.
This is exactly the celebration I wanted to see for the release of Go Demon or Go Home, the five-track cassette tape Wolvves unleashed through Rubber Brother Records. From the opening of the EP, Wolvves nails the perfect mix of punk and rock to turn all that stagnant discontent lurking in your veins into hot, fast-moving blood.
“______” kicks things off. Just as Wolvves had everyone yelling for pizza last year, this year will be all about the milkshake, or milk steak, depending on how the listener interprets the lyrics. Aydin, lead singer and lyricist for Wolvves, insists that he is saying “milk steak” in the song, but I sang the words “milkshake” for days before learning that it might have been in error and there’s no way for me to learn new words now. And, I wouldn’t put it past Aydin to lie to me outright for the sake of humor. Either way, the song fucking rocks and the rest of the tape does not diminish.
The second song, “Home”, captures that special blend of angst and irony that helped to define the first release from the band, Live Forever. By the time “Locals Only” – the third track – rolls out, you should be ready to start the revolution, light buildings on fire, or, at the very least, to have consensual sex with a complete stranger in a bar bathroom. Here’s where my motherly warning comes into play. Don’t listen to this album in moments of extreme existential depression as it may induce fits of epic debauchery, ones that you might have to explain to your own children some day, to say nothing of parents or police officers in the more immediate future.
“Static” mellows things out for a few without actually being mellow before “Twenty” revs up to close down Go Demon or Go Home with a dreamy, dissonant, summer anthem for the ages. As some of you might know, I’m a die-hard, put-a-knife-in-someone fan of Wolvves. I can’t honestly say which album I prefer: Live Forever or Go Demon or Go Home. On the newest release, the rap-rock combo has been supplanted for a more traditional punk feel, but none of the originality or style is lost in translation.
I guess you’ll just have to familiarize yourself with both EPs and decide for yourself. Go Demon or Go Home can be heard here. True fans, like myself, should definitely score their own cassette version before they run out. And, of course, if you haven’t yet caught the band live do so right away and, remember, safety first.
