Send "Wet Illustrated " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 The members of San Francisco's Wet Illustrated are no strangers to the local garage punk renaissance. Tim Hellman, one of two guitarists in the band, played bass for Ty Segall on two of his records. Chrys Nodal, the second guitarist, is also a member of Lilac. They even had Tim Cohen of the Fresh & Onlys serve as engineer for their first 7". But for all those associations, Wet Illustrated aren't exactly a "garage band" in the purest sense of "fuzz, hook, repeat." There certainly are hooks, and their vocals are primarily punk-infused yelling, but they also let loose several frantic, gleeful melodies. 1x1x1 is primarily defined by the band's tone, which is alternately flippant and serious.Their giant melodies are one of the biggest selling points of 1x1x1. "Marketplace" features a fist pumping, rousing, power-pop chorus. The otherwise aggressive "Satellite Kids" calms down in the middle with a soothing mandolin lick. There's another mandolin at the beginning of "Saints" backed by some gentle acoustic-guitar strums; moments later, there's more yelling. That's the sweet and sour duality they're dealing with for most of the album. On one hand, twee-leaning (but never cutesy or saccharine) flourishes. On the other, boisterous yelling and loud guitars. That more aggressive and assertive aesthetic becomes problematic after a while-- ultimately, it's a little over 30 minutes of that largely unswerving, monotonous yelling vocal. After a while, it starts to grate....full text |
| Musosguide |
| San Francisco trio Wet Illustrated are unleashing their debut album 1x1x1 upon the world. Originally starting life as a Television Personalities cover band, the trio are one of several garage/punk bands coming from west coast USA. Will they stand out from the crowd, or will they end up lost amongst the feedback and reverb of all the other bands? The garage credentials are certainly present on opener ‘Pete Jogs Poodle’. There’s lots of tape hiss, the vocal is barely discernible and the guitars are a little disjointed. The opener is no more than an quick instrumental though. The tempo gets kicked up a gear and the rhythm section really lays down a great beat on tracks like ‘My Head’ and ‘Claws’. The guitars are distorted, jangling, smeared in feedback and grime – the whole works. It’s not an album with some catchy melodies though. ‘Gypsy Town’ and ‘Herman’s Head’ show that there are more strings to the Wet Illustrated bow. The guitars now and then evoke Sonic Youth and at times sit somewhere near the kind of thing Mazes are putting out. The vocals flit between being indistinguishable to nice and rich, both variations being entirely meant and dependant on the production of the specific track. There are hints of darker depths on songs like ‘Born Stoked’, but there’s also moments of lightness, like on ‘Saints’. There’s an acoustic guitar and great guitar solo while the bass and drums give the song an edge before the guitar literally growls, changing the dynamic. ‘Marketplace’ is a definite high point. The rhythm section are again great and the guitar jangles away nicely. After the initial intro, the guitar gets some more meat on its bones. The tempo is again very good and while initially lighter of mood, the distortion and feedback isn’t far away, staying true to its garage punk roots. The song really grabs you and drags you along for a whirlwind ride. The tempo stays fairly high on ‘Satellite Kids’ and ‘Flying’ and along with ‘Boogie Away’ the guitar is by now the band’s signature. A little dirty and distorted and evoking the great American indie guitar bands like Sebadoh and Sonic Youth. ‘(Where I Wanna Be) Buried’ changes tact slightly, with the guitar sounding more urgent and distressed. The drums are very fast paced on the intro before the vocals and a more expansive guitar open the song up like a blossoming flower – a flower that rocks! The distortion and effects clean up a little during an instrumental section, creating a nice contrast. The album closes with a more sedate affair. ‘Luxury Waives’ has a really nice guitar, steady drums and even a hint of tambourine (they are from San Francisco). Sweeping sounds wash over the whole song, building in intensity, creating a wall of sound. It’s a really good end to an at times frantic and frenetic album. The influences are easy to hear and there’s no embarrassment if your guitar occasionally sounds like Sonic Youth. There’s more than enough here to suggest that this is a band worth watching. Generally fast paced, often really catchy, this is a really enjoyable album that deserves to stand aside from some of the more monotonous garage revivalists out there. Its a really energetic and enthusiastic debut, with enough variety in the songs to make Wet Illustrated a band to keep an eye on....full text |
| Bowlegsmusic |
| Wet Illustrated bring in the goodness with their debut album 1x1x1 (one by one by one). With energy and a sense of fun, they speed through each song with a slapdash vibe and real drive, with added percussive vocal hooks and some odd chord changes. Album aside, their online personas give us an idea of how the music came about – often their own blog posts end with “BOOOOM” or “SuperStoked!!!!” – it’s a refreshing change to the ultra-serious bios that usually come with the albums we get (they do have a sort of serious bio on their label’s website – we’re pretty sure they didn’t write it). Generally it ticks all the boxes of somewhat overdone jangly indie rock, but these guys have their own ideas of how to arrange and present it. There is a Brit-pop influence, (it’s in the loutish shouted vocal) as well as oddly catchy and unexpected moments reminiscent of psych-pop, and a whole sort of not-quite-normal edge to it. This coupled with some really interesting songwriting (we love the sudden gear changes in Market Place) gives the impression that these guys have done their research and do have method to what they are doing, despite seeming so gung-ho and unplanned. The elusive, yet romantic sense of warped perception which is the centre of the ‘weirdo rocker’ heart is prominent – despite being coupled with some mainstream indie guitar riffs and hooks, and limited lyrical story. There is a strong link to stoner rock – the tone of the tracks and fun-time lyrics take us back to The Pixies. The downside to this is that if you ever found the high end of Black Francis’s voice even slightly annoying, you are going to hate these guys – his voice is similar to that but with a kind of ‘yippy’ quality. However, we’re buying it so far here at Bowlegs!...full text |
| Theepochtimes |
| “The sound of a band having fun”, a line that can often induce a shudder from ‘serious’ music fans fearing the onset of some monstrosity of a novelty record. In the case of Wet Illustrated, there is no need to worry, as ‘fun’ is communicated in a gloriously ramshackle procession of lo-fi garage rock with just enough psych skew-whiffery to prevent it from veering into ‘by numbers’ territory. ‘Gypsy Town’ has the kind of infectious melody which is hard to shake, and even seemingly more straightforward numbers such as ‘Satellite Kids’ eventually veer off into more idiosynchratic territory. In the hands of Wet Illustrated, ‘fun’ need not be a dirty word in music anymore....full text |
Wet Illustrated lyrics
|
| |||||||
