Wet Blankets – Rise Of Wet Blankets
Wet Blankets came into being when, a couple of years ago, Zane Gardner started mucking about with his brother’s guitar and was then approached to knock out a scrappy 7” as a result. That brother is Billy of Ausmuteants and Living Eyes fame, and he also contributes here, as well as running the Anti Fade label on which Rise Of Wet Blankets is making its Aussie debut, while the rest of the makeshift Blankets line-up are either also culled from Ausmuteants or from Geelong/Melbourne-area band Hierophants. The Gardner boys’ dad played with local punk heroes Bored! too so there’s real pedigree here and this 11-track, 18-minute, no cover-art introduction proves it time and time again in breakneck fashion.
It’s highly energetic stuff, pivoting from murky bass grooves to DIY garage thrash to sweet solos in a heartbeat. “Hex In The City” is pure pogoing party-punk while “Hobo” ramps up in speed until it literally explodes. Meanwhile, backed by a band that hollers song titles and choruses back in his face, Zane yells in a heavy accent about his suburban nightmare, including numerous inevitable rants about school life. Oh, that’s right, he’s only 16. And, given superb, snotty blasts like “Dieter Caught My Bus” – a feedback-strangled midpoint between The Ramones and The Buzzcocks – it’s a fact that’s easy to forget until you hear his nimble, young fingers ripping out some improbably fast shred and head-banging riffs. A bit of clue, too, is the tumble of Simpsons references that commence with the white-hot rock ‘n’ roll and John Dwyer-aping of “Marge Is A Wet Blanket”. Brisbane’s scuzzy Blurst Of Times festival surely beckons. As does a promising future. School reports be damned.
Best track: “Dieter Caught My Bus”
~Rise Of Wet Blankets is released March 16th 2015 through Agitated Records in the UK and Anti Fade Records in Australia.~