Song of the Day: Wild Powwers - Party Song

Local Music, Song of the Day
04/01/2016
Scott Kulicke

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Party Song” by Seattle band Wild Powwers from their 2016 self-released album, Hugs and Kisses and Other Things.

Wild Powwers - Party Song (MP3)

Self-described "Seattle grunge babies" Wild Powwers, formerly just Powwers, specialize in the sort of carefree grunge riff-rock that gets better the dirtier it gets. Each layer of meticulously gnarly distortion, each off-kilter lyric, drenched in garage-echo reverb, is pure Pacific Northwest filth. The album's opener, "Wet N' Wild", is an atypically slow entrance into an otherwise raucous collection of tracks, but as the party kicks off on "Party Song", we're treated to the kind of headbanging, sloppy thrashing we expect. It's a drinking song of epic proportions, with a howling chorus of "I'm so wasted!" sang in a slurring, unmoored melody amidst a rain of cymbal crashes that sound like breaking bottles, a shredding guitar solo sure to set off the OCD of a dweeby perfectionist somewhere, and a driving bass that sounds like ripping metal and moves along like a very fast bulldozer. But amidst the grunge, there are subtle signs of thorough, well-crafted song structure: the quick, darting hand claps, the layered vocals. This isn't just dirty garage rock doomed to stay in the basements and opener slots of their hometown - and their tour across the country with The Fall of Troy and Kylesa is proof to the fact that their position in the female-lead surf/punk/grunge revival will have a broader appeal.

Turn out to welcome Wild Powwers back home to the Northwest when they play tonight at The Shakedown in Bellingham and at Sunset Tavern in Ballard on April 8th. For other dates and more music, check out their website and Facebook page.

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