Message from the Artist:
Just a hard working Grunge / Punk / Pop band from the middle of nowhere trying to share their music with the world. We are 100% DIY so sometimes we need a little help from good people listening reviewing and appreciating our hard work.
I GOT THE JUICE
THE WINONAS
Reviewd by Dee
Tremolo bolero.
This is darkness smiling at you.
I GOT THE JUICE is the first track on the new release from THE WINONAS, out of Bury St. Edmunds, England, off their just released DEAD ROMANTIC song compilation. I’m actually listening to all the songs but I will circle back to I GOT THE JUICE after some first impressions on the music overall.
The songs hold their own, each in their own way, beat, rhythm, lyric, start, finish, without any extraneous fluff or gratuitous dirt. They are accurately composed, which is a relief. The music, in a nutshell, sticks very deftly to its punk-grunge roots, right down to the recording quality. Speaking of dirt, the guitar, well placed in every song I might add, has a universal tone to it that sounds rooted in a 70s effect. I could name names. Whether it was captured live, off the floor, through the PA, inline, it’s effective. It’s rhythm guitar like it should be and the leads don’t suck either. Album-wise I could stand to hear more of those leads. What I don’t hear is the God-like down-strokes-only punk method a la Johnny Ramone, though the songs bear some resemblance in parts. There’s enough power behind each punched out power chord to carry the part. The drums and bass hold a steady fast beat and the sound overall is cut-throat and painless. The band explores multiple rhythms and delve into some poly-rhythmic breaks in the action, all carried off adroitly by the drums and bass combo.
The intro is all percussion and effective at getting the heart pumping. The low volume tracked guitar in the background, which could have been someone scraping a rake over the sidewalk, sets the mood. Somehow, I knew I was about to be 2 x4’d by sound in 1, 2… . I’d been here before: dominated by the crunch guitar, the clear bass line landing all the right cues; the sharp, trebly cymbals slicing and dicing among the toms. You could fry an egg to the timing. The build sequence, about 10 seconds of syncopated thrumming and strumming, creeps up like steps to the altar. The first pin to drop and demand your attention is the pulsing guitar/drum combo, almost asymmetric, that is the heartbeat of the song with the sawing guitars overtop, to 11. The song’s mix generates a sound wave that re-wires the body and brain temporarily to bob and stomp. I think some of this sensation could also be an artefact of the production. That possibility notwithstanding, I GOT THE JUICE has some stellar qualities worthy of mention.
The simple verse melodies reminiscent of The Offspring, get even simpler as the chorus echoes back it’s plaintive call “I Got The Juice” to anyone out their who may be listening. The steady wud, wud of the rhythm section, pounded on, like drunk Nirvana, absolutely in the pocket no matter what and I’m not a Dave Grohl fan. Lots of other great ideas too in the bridges and breaks. This music bursts with restrained chaos and I GOT THE JUICE pours that sonic liquid into my ears with confidence and swagger.
I look forward to the next production step up, to take some of these songs to the best place they can be. Looks like a lively live show too. I see a cross between Wayne County, (Some Obscure Band) and The Cramps. Others would put them in the NIRVANA, JESUS LIZARD, PISSED JEANS AND FUGAZI set list at the music festival. For me however, that remains only to be heard and yet to be seen.
If you are looking for new, get up and move, rock, punk, grunge, basement 90s dystopic, light at the end of the tunnel, smiles in the darkness, to keep you awake this winter type music, check out I GOT THE JUICE to get an earful. The other tunes on DEAD ROMANTIC by THE WINONAS have the JUICE, too.
Musical style: indie, rock, 90s, lyrical, lo-fi, garage rock, grunge
Source: Website form.
Website: https://thewinonasband.com/home
Song Writer: James Wallace
City: Bury St Edmunds, England
Song link: https://open.spotify.com/track/5e6h8SyEX8qr143sUXC2dv?si=bdb61f55d1e04c6a
