The debut album from Irish / Portuguese quintet pôt-pot, Warsaw 480km, is an album about feeling adrift during dark hours but also knowing that light eventually will come.
Lead singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Mark Waldron-Hyden wrote most of the album while bouncing around different landscapes and residences…all the while dealing with grief over the death of his father. What emerged was a pretty damn cool post-punk / krautrock / Ennio Morricone (and, believe it or not, James Brown)-inspired album.
“22° Halo” opens the record with a fierce bass lick from Joe Armitage and guitars that you think are going to overwhelm you for a moment but then fade into the shadows. “Sextape” started out as a jam session and became your next favorite song to put on a psych-rock mixtape. The blend of male and female harmonies between Waldron-Hyden and Elaine Malone and Sara Lelsie and near-surf rock guitars from Waldron-Hyden and Mykle Oliver Smith are instantly hypnotizing, and Malone’s harmonium is like incense in your meditation chamber.
“WRSW” was inspired by the road sign mentioned in the album’s title as Waldron-Hyden was riding in a car with his father’s ashes. As the story goes, he saw the sign emerge along the road on a dark night and it gave him the sense that he’d get through both the night and his grief (even in the latter would remain to some degree for a lifetime). The upbeat krautrock rhythm gives you (and Waldron-Hyden) the power to keep moving forward. “Fake Eyes” is a haunting track that seems to just…hover.
The press release I received for Warsaw 480km mentions how “I AM!” is indebted to Lou Reed. That’s correct, as it sounds like a groovy Velvet Underground track you forgot existed. Waldron-Hyden’s swaggering beat on “Can’t Handle It” reminds me of Cramps records – as do the repeated lyrics of “Tell me, baby, do you feel all right? Tell me, baby, would you take my life? Because I just can’t handle it.”
The guitar work on “The Lights Are On” is a great mix of psych-garage and dark country twang. “Hot Scene” continues that Morricone influence and adds a bit of Delta 5 post-punk flair as it builds to a loud buzz in your head. The album ends with “Change Your Life,” which could be a suggestion made by Waldron-Hyden to us, a friend, a lover, or himself. I’m not sure…or if it matters.
What does matter is that you give this album a spin. It’s a great debut and portends more good things to come from them.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Kate at Stereo Sanctity.]