Ah Waheela, how I’ve missed thee…
Absence, so I have been told, is supposed to make the heart grow fonder. Whilst Waheela is never a million miles away from my heart, since my first article, all has been relatively quiet. They have held back recently on releasing new music. To be honest, apart from their demo session on the Podbean podcast, it’s been reasonably quiet from the five-legged drone-amplifier worshipping machine. But whilst they’ve not been destroying the world with their supersonic sound, they’ve not been quiet either. They’ve been working on A Wreck So Clean.
Over the last two years, Waheela traveled to Mill Hill Chapel in the centre of Leeds with Tom Goodall from Leeds noise makers Cattle, creating a new album. If you’ve not heard Cattle before, they consist of two drummers, a bass player, a screamer using effects peddles and (depending on the day) a saxophonist, a homemade electronic noise machine or just a random combination of the above. Having a member of that crazy quartet trying to tame Wahella (or encourage them to greater heights), is a match made in heaven or hell, depending on your point of view.
A Wreck So Clean is Waheela’s second release via Cruel Nature Records.
Again, for reference, Cruel Nature Records is a DIY label from Newcastle, releasing albums digitally and on cassette. To call their release catalogue varied is an understatement. The next post I’ll be working on is a look at some of the other recent releases from CNR, but needless to say, each release is always a unique and sometimes terrifying occasion. Waheela’s last release for CNR, the wonder HX Pop, has been my favourite release for many years. The reason for this is that instead of their previous one track jams, it was split into dedicated, single tracks. Much like their last release, Treading on Weird Lines, each track had its own personality and each had a different style. It was Waheela, but not as we’d heard them before.
So, new Producer, returning label. Have Waheela overcooked it?
The reason I ask this question is so I’m more of a devil’s advocate than a loved-up fanboy. You see, I’m trying to look at the release whilst writing this in an impartial way, to give myself some distance from writing another sonnet to one of my favourite noise bands. I feel I owe it to them and to myself to split my fan reaction from my critical reaction, as both can be off-point at times. However, I think that I might be able to cope with this one as Waheela has split it into easy (in a given sense of the word) chunks.
Over the four tracks and totaling just over forty-four minutes, A Wreck So Clean is split into four acts. The first is “A Certain Voice and Face”, which starts with three-minutes of noise recorded in a city. You can hear cars, bird calls, and the urban environment. This gives way to a slow warm-up as if Waheela are trying to match the noise of their urban church, sending a prayer back to the void so to speak. This foreplay of noise continues until about the six-minute mark when the band turns up the noise.
From there on in, it’s the Waheela Noise that we’ve all came to love/fear in equal measure. Coming across like the bastard love child of Oxbow, Earth and Tinariwen, they let rip a droning experience that only they know how to do. With a slow approach to their sound, this track has the feeling of being a natural continuation of their live sound. This feels natural and organic, as the deity intended it to be, all noisy and full of that strange sound which is their trademark. As the track slows down, the noise of the city returns, which seems to be the right ending to the first song of this set.
The second track “Burden Room” is the closest Waheela have ever got to a single….in length only.
“Burden Room” sounds like a band deconstructing a song. They strip the noise back and letting the sound sweep over you. It’s a wall of noise, with a fantastic reverbing sound of looped guitars and smashing cymbals. I think that it’s a natural pause, a breath before the next attack, giving both band and audience a rest. Is it essential? Well, I could answer now, but I think I’ll leave that to the end and move onto the next song.
“Dern” starts off with a snarl and smash, with Waheela hitting the ground running on this one. Swirling around us like a destructive hurricane, “Dern” is an instant smash for me. It’s come out at such a frantic pace, the whole song seems to run past you so fast! It makes you reach for the repeat button instantly. I love the tones of Mike and Cod’s guitars, Porter is an absolute beast on drums, Adam snarls like a demon throughout, and Andy on bass keeps it all together. The fact it takes them a minute to slow down is no surprise, otherwise, they might have fallen over! This is up with my favourite tracks by Waheela, just for the unbridled speed behind the music!
But alas, Waheela have to bring A Wreck So Clean to an end at some point.
“Dead Upset” is the track to bring down the curtain here. But after “Dern”, Waheela have wisely decided to go down an atmospheric route. To begin with and much like “Hoffman” on HX Pop, “Dead Upset” relies on the gaps in between the noise. Everything starts to decay at this point, everything slows down patiently. I love that sort of thing, it’s an experience I’ve always wondered if Waheela would perform live. But after a while, the beast begins to stir and then you have a wave of noise. It sounds out of place, but it builds up to something beautiful. A loop, a wonderful, simple and brain-cell killing loop. I love that repetition, the constant looping that drills in your head. You just can’t stop thinking about it, which is the crux of the song.
Ending A Wreck So Clean with this loop is a masterstroke.
It’s one of many things that makes it stand out from its brethren, which can be quite hard for Waheela. I love the opening, that city soundtrack which fades into the song. I asked the question earlier if “Burden Room” was essential? Well, it bloody well is! I adore the intensity of the feedback, the boys have done a fantastic job! Every track is essential, everything is in the right place. The production job by Tom Goodall, the cover, everything about this record is spot on, it’s a joy to behold. It doesn’t beat the holy grail that is HX Pop, that album is still timeless, but it’s so close. Everything is connected and essential to this album, the whole wouldn’t work with one piece missing. At the end of the day, A Wreck So Clean is an amazing noise record for 2019. It’s always great to have the Waheela boys back, long may they continue to fuck up with noise.
Thanks by the way to Shaun Pugh Photography for the live shots of Waheela, you can visit Shaun’s website using this link – Shaun Paugh Photography.