Unwelcome Guests
Wavering
Dirt Cult Records [2014]
Fire Note Says: Buffalo’s Unwelcome Guests offer you an honest 30 minutes of rock on their new record, Wavering.
Album Review: There are only two things you need to know about Unwelcome Guests. They hail from Buffalo and have released their new record, Wavering, on Dirt Cult Records. Both of these things to me represent toughness as living through this Ohio winter has given me more respect for areas that deal with consistent brutal cold seasons and we love all of the in your face rock that Dirt Cult releases with bands like Big Dick, Sweatshop Boys and Rumspringer. The loose and raw sounding punk from Unwelcome Guests fits right in as they balance high octane fist pumpers with moments of lyrical clarity.
Sometimes it is easy to just let a 30 minute record roll but Unwelcome Guests bring you in a bit closer with their lyrics and all together call outs. On the catchy “Everything New,” the band takes a breath and sings “all the things I can’t forget or pretend I can’t remember” which I think probably applies to more of us than we would like to admit or on “Kick The Beams,” Micah Winship breaks down the heart of the song when he sings “never wanted to become an orphan but chose to runaway, this distant city on this gloomy morning wish I would of stayed.” These emotional daggers continue all the way through Wavering as the closer, “Slippery Strings” finds Winship pleading “please don’t ever forget, my love, my love, my love!”
I will say that you will not claim Unwelcome Guests are the best of anything. They are not the best singers, best musicians or best songwriters but Wavering garnishes strength from the band’s unity. All of their components work together throughout the 10 songs here and it doesn’t matter if it is a burner like “Tattered Old Flag” or a more strolling track like “Flood,” you will find yourself hitting repeat to party with this Buffalo crew again because they just know how to rock!
Key Tracks: “Everything New”, “Kick The Beams”, “Caution Will Be The Death Of Me”
Artists With Similar Fire: The Gaslight Anthem / Down By Law / Wax
Unwelcome Guests Website
Unwelcome Guests Facebook
Dirt Cult Records
– Reviewed by Christopher Anthony
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