Album Details

• Artist: Wet Hair
• Album: In Vogue Spirit
• Label: De Stijl
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2011-06-07

I promised myself that I would try never to use the word "angular" anymore in reviews, since it has become over the past few years the default word for critics the way "brutal" or majestic" have been.

So I will just say that "Echo Lady," the stunning opener from "In Vogue Spirit," kicks things off with a gritty soaring keys and guitar mix that recalls The Fall and the Modern Lovers. Wet Hair manage to write songs that are so damn full of hooks but at the same time are raw and relentless. Tis many a thing of genius here.

Singer Shawn Reed gets slagged a lot for being off key or too monotone, but there are very songs here that one is truly pissed to have him out in front. In fact, on the muddy, Casio tribute "The Garden Room" or the morose "Fame Hate," his drawl is buried in the mix perfectly, aiding those songs psych-whimsy.  There are other similar, synth driven songs that are ok, but the real meat comes with the more abstract and abrasive. "Liquid Jesus," "Cosmic Radio" and, especially "Fade Til Morning" reach back for extra menace, mixing noise and acid with catchy riffs; each is an almost perfect song in its emotional wallop and execution.

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