WILFUL BOYS, THE - Anybody There?

New York Citys Wilful Boys is hard rock the way it once was -- and should always be -- for now and forever, amen. You know Wilful Boys are old-school from the start, as mainman and singer Steven Fisher isnt out front of the band, prancing and preening. The man is behind the drumkit, his heavy-as-a-sack-of-bricks pounding driving these songs forward with a bruising, methodical force. Fisher is an Aussie -- as is bassist Mikey Watkins -- and the hardscrabble nature of his native land sweats heaps of grit and power all over Wilful Boys debut release, a 7-¢‚Ǩ¬ù single on NYCs Ever/Never Records. Alongside Degreaser and Ballroom, Wilful Boys are another face-blasting ensemble in Ever/Nevers stellar stable of New York/Australian combo units.
-¢‚Ǩ-ìAnybody There-¢‚Ǩ¬ù is existential crisis as mid-tempo assault; theres just the right amount of introspection amidst the beer-guzzling chunks of riff -- as executed by Johnny Provenzano and Nicholas Isles -- shifting beneath Watkins bulldozer bass. -¢‚Ǩ-ìFlat Out-¢‚Ǩ¬ù is the best song the Cosmic Psychos never wrote, a not-so-distant cousin to down-and-out laments like -¢‚Ǩ-ìCustom Credit-¢‚Ǩ¬ù and -¢‚Ǩ-ìBad Day.-¢‚Ǩ¬ù The verse -- -¢‚Ǩ-ìIm waiting on a break/in the day or in my back-¢‚Ǩ¬ù -- follows the descending riff into a well of hopelessness, but the overdriven chorus proves theres still some fight left in these Wilful Boys. Like the best rock n roll, this is music for drinking away your lifes worries. - Ever/Never.