Wand - "Perfume"

Wand are a Psychedelic Rock band that formed in the early 2010's in California.  This band has ties to a lot of the current greats in the genre, like Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin.  So obviously, I was absolutely interested in checking out their stuff.  But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something with their 2014 debut "Ganglion Reef".  This album sounded just fine, with Wand pulling from a lot of different current sounds.  Elements of bands like Tame Impala showed up, and Wand absolutely wore their influences on their sleeves.  Which wasn't a bad thing, but I came away from this album almost completely unfazed. However, with 2015's "Golem", I really felt like Wand were coming into their own.  No longer here did they sound like they were ripping off their contemporaries entirely, now they sounded like they could easily open for them.  Tracks like "Cave In" were muscular Garage jams with great production, while tracks like "Flesh Tour" and "Floating Head" showed Wand at their freakiest.  This may have not been a perfect album, but Wand were now officially on my radar in a big way.  But Wand got right back off my radar with 2015's "1000 Days".  This album may have been Wand at their campiest and most weird, but once again they sounded like they were desperately aiming to sound like their contemporaries, in the least flattering way.  No joke, this album sounds EXACTLY like a Ty Segall album from 2015, but way less ambitious.  Now, I actually think Wand's 2017 album "Plum" is one of their more interesting releases.  This album wasn't perfect, but it was super ambitious.  There were seemingly endless genres and subgenres on display here, and they all sounded fresh.  This time around, Wand weren't copying anyone, they were actually leading the pack. Wand are back with a new album which I'm actually super curious to check out, because these singles have actually been on the more ambitious side.  Let's talk about it!

“Perfume” was simply put, not the intro I was expecting to hear.  This track is wild right from the get-go, and I can’t remember the last time I heard the band playing with this much intensity.  Sure, as far as vocals go I still feel like Wan may be leeching off their contemporaries a little bit.  But the remainder of this track is surprisingly ambitious and just plain wild. I love just how twisted Cory Hanson comes off on vocals, he sounds truly dangerous.  And then we have this tracks length.  At a whopping 7 and a half minutes, it’s certainly one of the longer ones in the bands catalogue.  But that doesn’t take anything away from this, and the band seem comfortable with it.  There are some hypnotic drone moments, and some seriously intense drums in the middle as well.  Even the later, almost completely instrumental moments here just show how comfortable and adventurous the band has gotten.  I don’t know where this was years ago, but it’s great.  “Town Meeting” instantly winds things down to a much slower pace,, which is very abrupt considering just how wild that last track was.  But before you even have time to register with that, this one picks up and goes right back to being just as frantic and twisted.   The dueling vocals here actually make for this very surreal and genuinely psychedelic effect that’s really cool.  Now, while I think the intro came off a little bit more focused, I still feel like I’ve never heard the band so wild and ambitious.  They come off so tightly wound here and seriously manic, it’s pretty freaky.  But it leads to some very memorable vocals to say the least, and I still love just how much Wand are pushing themselves.  On the other hand, “The Gift” is just shimmering and interesting enough to instantly catchy my attention.   This one isn’t nearly as upbeat and wild, but it has this genuine sense of mystery to it that I absolutely love.  The vocals come off so mystic, and the instrumental here is just so vast and complex.  But it’s also so warm and inviting.  There are plenty of usual instrumentals for Psych and Garage Rock, but there’s also tons of interesting percussion and stellar production.  Like, this is just so much more ambitious than anything they’ve touched in the past.  But my only one complaint about this EP comes in the form of “Hiss”.  I hear a track like this and it just makes me grumpy.  My friends, the art of the interlude is lost.
On the other hand “Pure Romance” is another very sweet, stripped down Folk Rock tune with some very psychedelic elements.  Man, I can’t remember the last time I heard Cory so emotional.  In general, this track is just so heartfelt.  Not to mention, boy howdy is this production a pleasure on the ears.  It’s not nearly as faceless, it actually gives Wand a nice pop to their sound.  Plus, this chorus is just so grand and explosive, I’m very impressed.  The very whimsical vibe to this EP continues with some very skillful guitar solos and a very cluttered feel.  But when things pick up it just gets really exciting, really fast.  I sort of miss the vocals on this one, and I feel like they would have only added to it.  But for a much more fleshed out and wild interlude, this works.  Now, a major selling point of this EP is just how consistent it is.  I mean, this 28 minute EP rolls on smoothly, with just a 50 second bump with that interlude.  Once again, this one is a little stripped down.  But the instrumentals here are just as classy.  This one takes an almost classical approach to the genres they’re toying with, taking from Psych Rock bands of the early 70’s.  But like I said, it comes off very progressive and super classy.  I love the lead and backing vocals, and this does nothing but excite me for Wand’s future.  For a short EP, I can’t remember the band ever sounding this consistent. 

Rating: 7.7/10

Genre: Psychedelic Rock / Garage Rock

Overall Thoughts:  While this is the shortest release from Wand, it's by far their most consistent.  I would say that I can't remember the last time I heard the band playing with this much energy and enthusiasm, and were going for such a progressive sound.  But the fact is, they've never sounded this good.  The band has made a long career of sounding just good enough to open for one of Garage Rock's finest, but here they make the argument that they are one of Garage Rock's finest.  There are blazingly fast Psych Rock odysseys here, as well as stripped down Psych Folk ballads that would make their contemporaries blush. I just hope they continue to sound this consistent.