Wilderness - s/t

This is good, and definitely worth a few listens. My only problem with it is that it's a bit on the monochromatic side in terms of the sonic pallete. The guitars are probably the most guilty offenders in this respect - the ringing, reverbed tones are employed nicely, often more for color than for tracing out a melody (the closest comparison I can come up with is the untitled opening track of Turn on the Bright Lights), but over the course of the album I'd say they're consistent to a fault. The drums and bass are both excellent and varied; the latter takes the traditional supporting role most of the time, but actually provides the most memorable melody on the most immediately gratifying song, "Marginal Over." The vocals (called-out, declared, and sometimes yelped) do invoke Byrne and maybe Lydon, and they're mixed particularly well to these ears: they sound a bit distant, so they work well with the rest of the music instead of overpowering and distracting.

One track that stands out is "Shepherd in Sheep's Clothing." It opens with a muted looped recording of sheep noises(?) and other things going in the background. A somber instrumental fades in over it and, for a short while, the instruments and recorded sounds mix and yield a complex texture reminiscent of Disco Inferno.

There are epic (in the Explosions in the Sky sense) moments scattered throughout the album and it's certainly a gratifying listen. But excepting "Shepherd", the explosive opener "Marginal Over" and the closing piano bit, I find the rest of the songs on the album difficult to distinguish from one another (or even remember clearly). Maybe after a few more listens...

Also, I feel like a 90 Day Men comparison might be appropriate, but I haven't listened to them in months so my memory's a bit murky on them as well.

however, equally annoying singing.

yeah, 90dm not quite as samey, but the singing and mid-tempo "post-rock" song structures (and cover art!) are comparable I guess.

yeah, but i had to restrain myself from posting on your "pfork" thread.

tempos, tones, and volumes stay fairly constant throughout.

maybe.

The Wilderness is alright. Sleep is OTM. The songs suffer from sameness. Very early 80s in feel with lots of ethereal guitar, JD/Pil style rhythm section, and quirky vocals a la David Byrne/David Thomas.

jd comparisons are probably warranted. their previous bands had the jd style rhythms. (or rem style rhythms depending on your pov.)

i'm not really sure where jay is coming from re:vocals. something to note tho... this band has been together for 10 years and the previous band had similarities.

my complaint might be that it reminds me too much of tristeza at times. and yeah, it's samey... but note that lungfish is as well and i know that's at least an ideological influence.

good guys tho. and a good band. see them live. no chumps here.
m.

m.

The sameyness doesn't bother me. I like it...it's got a good mood...love the improv piano thing at the end too...good closer.

the singing is the best part!

the drummer in my band made a good comparison to Lungfish...like a sort of wierd, Brit post-punk Lungfish with the Edge playing guitar.

some of the best drumming of the year as well....guitar playing captures all the things i like about u2 without actually being u2

the guitar player makes chipmunk faces during jamage parts....its annoying.

haha that's awesome! I hoped he would be wierd onstage....did you guys see Gang of Four on the new tour (or ever?)...I imagine him having stage movts like Jon King when I saw them a few months ago....do Wilderness tour much? I don't think they've been thru Mpls..

cause i do...only it's later PiL...it's weird that people would say "wilderness" and "second editon"....when they should be saying "wilderness" and "9"

http://www.wildernesssounds.com/

?¿?

Bummer. I just got into their debut album, too - not as enamored with the follow-up.

were you looking for wilderness news am0n

the joy division song: classic. the band: unbeknownst to me.

yes cutty and the news is "This Account Has Been Suspended Due To Technical OR Billing Problem"

wildernesssounds.com expired on 10/05/2010 and is pending renewal or deletion.

(k)no(w)here is dope

everything they've done is dope, if a little same-y.

this band should be much bigger. and they need a new album, pronto.

I love this band especially the self titled despite my problem with bands with forced-sounding vocal weirdness.

And the lead singer swears he hadn't heard Public Image Ltd before!

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

http://www.wildernesssounds.com/

good god, the guitar in "Marginal Over" is so exquisite.

the vocals... what the hell is going on

it sounds like he's parodying something... but what?

80s adult contemporary music

you guys really get butthurt about your music, huh

he sounds kind of like David Byrne crossed with Fred Schneider

lol had you never heard this before? I think John Lydon mid-80s PIL is the cleanest comparison vocal-wise.

I hadn't heard it before but I liked some of the bands referred to in the opening post so I thought I'd check it out. Can't say it reminds me too much of the bands mentioned, to be honest. The U2 touchpoint mentioned above seemed more fitting; I can at least hear some elements of U2 in this. I wasn't familiar with 80s PIL, but I'm listening to that now, and it's not a bad reference for the vocals. I do find the singing very distracting with this musical backdrop though... like I said, it almost sounds like he's parodying something.

i was also unfamiliar with wilderness. listening to the 1st album now, they kinda sound like kitchens of distinction fronted by david yow. jmtc

i love this band so much

Oh man, always surprising to see Wilderness discussion. Still listen to their albums regularly. Love them so so much as well.

Every time this post pops up and reminds me to listen to the first album I get so fucking happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQDCdvkeNA

this was a pretty good band, what happened to them?

funny i just ran across this CD (the debut), stands up great! excellent PIL worship

Love this album forever

this was a pretty good band, what happened to them?

― na (NA), Wednesday, October 11, 2017 9:32 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Every few months I ask myself the same question.

they were great, played their CD a few months back. Feel in the mood to play it again now

i might be crazy but i hear a little bit of their sound in protomartyr. might just be a shared lungfish influence.

Had an urge to listen to the debut and it floors me every time. Post-Plethoric Rhetoric into Fly Further to See is just, fucking hell. Oddly, the album it mostly reminds me of - and it's totally in the rolling tumble and warmth of the rhythm section - is Bob Dylan's Desire.

I never stopped listening to them! Yeah the sequencing is great there. Debut came out when affected alienating lead vocals were all the rage in indie rock but this album doesn't sound dated cause the whole package is much more art rock than all those buzz bands from that time.

really great band

Put this album on during my evening walk yesterday, and I reached a new level of appreciation for it.
It shouldn't work -- the songs are indistinguishable from one another (except "Marginal Over"), the singer's voice should grate, the influences are too obvious -- but it somehow transcends all of that.

It totally holds up for me! Loved it since it came out in 2005

I’ve done away with a lot of promos over the years but have held onto the Wilderness discs.

The only thing that didn't age so well for me were the silly backup vocals on the 3rd LP

Maybe I shouldn't have listened again in the same week, because now the cracks are starting to show.
The start of the debut album seemed a lot more epic before I paid attention to the lyrics:

Face the facts, oh facts the face, facts the face
Trace the act, oh act the trace, act the trace
Erase the act, oh act the erase, act the erase
Replace the fact, oh fact the replace, fact the replace

Still not tired of the drummer's constant fills though.
Also, it sounds like "Post Plethoric Rhetoric" repeats the riff from "Marginal Over" but at half speed, which makes for a nice callback.

Is this new stuff on Spotify????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cv8hwzHO8M

I’m not sure if it will be? Does this label usually make these comps available for streaming?

https://www.undertheradarmag.com/news/jagjaguwar_announces_fourth_and_final_installment_of_jag25_series

"Those who purchase the zine will receive one of two limited edition cassettes, either that of the previously unreleased Wilderness album Future Seats or..."

So there's a Wilderness album that was never released, but it will be available on cassette only if you hurry.

AT RANDOM. So you can't even say "Hey, Jagjaguwar, I'd prefer the Wilderness tape, thanks!"

https://www.secretlystore.com/sentimental-noise-various

Not nearly enough live footage of this band. Came across this recently. YEAH.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jbz645vP2s

So Colin McCann and Brian Gossman have a new band - Vulture Feather. They're pretty good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKK4ZU55huA

Good to see the Wilderness love. Dang, that record is good.

― (picnic, lightning) very very frightening (Chinaski), Thursday, August 31, 2023 4:42 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Indeed it is, as is their new band Vulture Feather: https://vulturefeather.bandcamp.com/album/liminal-fields

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, August 31, 2023 5:53 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

New EP and forthcoming East Coast US tour: https://vulturefeather.bandcamp.com/album/merge-now-in-friendship

I'm so glad I clicked on this post yesterday because Wilderness was one of my favorite bands of the late aughts and I always wondered what became of them. Liminal Fields is lit. Terrific cover art, too.

New Vulture Feather album out on Bandcamp, they really are great at the sound they've picked out.