High Tension Wires
(Dirtnap)
I've never been to Denton, TX and probably couldn't locate it on a map without help but it sure seems like an awful lot of good bands call the place home. One is the High Tension Wires. This is their third record so you may have heard their name bandied about or maybe the band they crawled out of, the Marked Men. The band started as a Marked Men side project with 3 of that band's 4 members calling membership. Now only Mark Ryan from the M.M. is in the band but he is joined by a Riverboat Gambler (Mike Wiebe), one from The Red (Chris Pulliam) and plus Dan and Greg from The Bad Sports (also just signed to Dirtnap). If it sounds like a lot of fun it's because it is.
First cut "Get Weird" could be a blood brother cut to (former Dirtnap band The Briefs) "Poor and Weird" while on "Incorporeal" they start really kicking up some dust where the guitars sound more whoah-whoah-ish than the vocals. "Backbone" has some of that purring lawnmower guitar while "Temporary Gods" starts with a riff lifted from The Clash's "White Riot" but then gets all jittery and then, finally lapses into pure spazzy melody. Other cuts that will make you stand at attention include the chaotic "Lose Your Grip", the jagged "The Universal People's Church' and the awesomely named "Dirt, Fist Feet." It seems like no matter what bands these Marked Men guys are in it's pure gold (check out The Mind Spiders, too).
As the fat dude at my gym who likes to bet on sports says, it's a lock.
DOWNLOAD: "Incorporeal", "Temporary Gods", "Lose Your Grip", "Dirt, Fist Feet", TIM HINELY
