I can't think of many bands with a name that could aptly describe the type of music they play, although I guess the sadly forgotten Loud were after all pretty loud. And there clearly isn't an Underground Witch Rock genre, but for some reason as soon as I heard the name I made an intelligent guess what it would sound like, and that it would be 'my type of thing'. I wasn't too far wrong.
They're a Finnish band who arrived on the scene back in 2017 with an EP entitled 'Water Talk', grabbed my attention with the excellent single ‘Ghostwriter’ at the start of the year and then haven't waited long for the album release, courtesy of the wonderfully titled 'The Wistful World of Underground Witch Rock'. It’s a title that definitely does the album justice.
Just a few highlights: ‘Night Drive’ sets the scene, taking us away into the Witch Rock world, whilst ‘Swim With Me’ is another weighty piece of dream pop psychedelia of sorts, the track building almost euphorically to fluid instrumental sections to get completely wrapped up in.
‘Ghostwriter’ is still a splendid song of course, before the album heads somewhat in a different direction with the laid back ‘At The End of The Summer’ and then the dreamier ‘Pouring Lotion’. ‘Presence’ raises the tempo a little, but they’re a band that like to take their time with songs, they focus on the atmosphere and intensity they create, sophisticated songwriting that suggests substance over style.
And if truth be told I’m not sure quite how to position it, but maybe that’s a positive sign, a mix of indie rock styles, dream pop, post, progressive, shoegaze, different eras of influence, but undoubtedly a really enjoyable album that does feel like they've created a 'musical world' for us all to explore, and maybe even get lost in. I always liked The Janitors description of their music as ‘evil shoegaze boogie woogie’ and maybe there’s some of that in ‘The Wistful World…’, but it‘s really just Underground Witch Rock.