FEATURED BAND OF THE WEEK: WHEAT



Hailing from Taunton, Massachussettes, Wheat are a three piece indie-rock band comprising singer-guitarist Scott Levesque, guitarist Ricky Brennan and Drummer Brendan Harney. With their strong guitar-led melodies mixed in with suble use of keyboards, introspective lyrics and vocals that exude just the right amount of sincerity and raw emotion, Wheat could easily be compared to British indie-rock bands such as Coldplay and Radiohead. But they possess enough talent and originality to transcend such comparrisons and inhabit their own individual space in the music world.

Forming in 1997, Wheat recorded the majority of their first album 'Mederios' in Levesques' bedroom and in 1998 it was released on Chicago indie label 'Sugar Free'. Success followed pretty quickly with 'Death Car' being named NME single of the week while Bush's Gavin Rossdale proclaimed it his favourite song of the year. Wheat's second album 'Hope and Adams'achieved a similar level of success making it onto album of the year lists in both 'Select' and 'Uncut' magazines. Their newest album 'Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second', is Wheat's major label debut, produced by Dave Fridmann(Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev). It hails a bit of a change in direction for the band and has been described as a 'giant leap into technicolor' for a band who had previously dealt in 'grainy black and white' realities. At the time of writing I have only heard a few of the tracks on 'Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second' but if 'I Met A Girl' and 'Closer To Mercury' are anything to go by then it promises to be full of catchy yet original, well written rock songs filled with copious amounts of emotion and beauty.

For further information on Wheat including biography, discography, audios and photographs, visit their website
WWW.WHEATMUSIC.COM


ALBUM REVIEWS

HOPE AND ADAMS (1999) 9

This Wheat/Slow fade/Don't I Hold You/Raised Ranch Revolution/San Diego/No One Ever Told Me/Be Brave/Whose The One/Off The Pedestal/And Someone With Strengths/Body Talk (Part 1)/Body Talk (Part 2)/More Than You'll Ever Know/Roll The Road

When you think of the name 'Wheat' it conjures up images of wholesome, natural, pure, homespun goodness. Add to this some raw intensity, delicate beauty, wonderfully crafted melodies and subtle yet powerful vocals, and you've just about got 'Wheat' described to a tee. Wheat dapple in the simple things in life; songs stripped bare of frivilous extras, leaving only what's necessary to make a song brilliant. That's not to say that their music is dull; quite the opposite actually. In a similar way to 'Low', their quiet genius gets the message across louder than the noisest drum machine or screamed vocals. The general mood of 'Hope and Adams' is chilled and low-key. It is low-fi music at it's very best.

Whilst mainly relying on guitar-led melodies, 'Hope and Adams' is an album full of variety with different songs making use of different instrumentation and vocal styles. Yet despite the variety, the album manages to come across as a cohesive whole rather than a mere collection of songs and emerges as 14 parts of one larger whole. The opening track 'This Wheat' which is short and purely instrumental acts like an interlude to what's to come and thoughout the album things just keep getting bigger and better. While there's probably not one bad song on the entire album, there's a few that stand out from the rest as being the work of pure genius. 'Body Talk (part 2)' is one of those songs. With not much more than an accoustic guitar to accompany Levesque's vocals, it is pure unadulterated beauty. The lyrics are the sort of thing that most people can only hope that someone someday will write about them. It's the sort of song that stops you dead in your tracks, making you block out everything that's going on around you; making you exist alone in your own world where nothing else matters but the music playing on your stereo. Another track that is equally beautiful is 'Roll The Road' which ends the album on a perfect note. Levesque's voice sounds so delicate that it might be about to break at any second. It is a powerfully evocative track that is so effective that when the album ends it stays in your head for hours afterwards leaving you with a fuzzy warm feeling inside. 'Hope and Adams' was short-listed in album of the year lists in 'Uncut' and 'Select' magazines and it's not difficult to see why. It is full to the brim of perfectly crafted and performed rock songs that many bands would give their right arm for.

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Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second (2003) 8

I Met A Girl/Breathe/These Are Things/Life Still Applies/Go Get The Cops/Some Days/World United Already/Hey, So Long (Ohio)/The Beginner/Can't Wash It Off/Closer To Mercury/This Rough Magic

Wheat's new album 'Per Second, Per Second, Per Second...Every Second', is their first release on a major lable, yet rather than being considered a 'sell-out, they manage to have captured a more mainstream appeal whilst still remaining loyal to their indie roots. 'Per Second...' represents a cosiderable change in diretion and style for Wheat. The four years since recording 'Hope and Adams' very obviously involved a lot of growth and direction for the band resulting in their new album sounding completely different from anything they had previous recorded. Gone are the characteristic low-fi, accoustic, introspective musings, which are instead replaced by a much more highly polished, upbeat and more heavily produced collection of songs with a much more positive, poppier feel to them. The songs may have a more contemporty pop feel to them, yet Wheat's own individual chararacteristics still remain. The introspective feel of 'Hope and Adams may be gone, but the intelligent lyrics, soulful vocals and musical talent are still there.

Throughout the album, Wheat have managed to create variety whilst still maintaining their own identity. Each track utilises different styles and influences, but it all still manages to come together as one complete whole. The opening track 'I Met A Girl' is a deliciously refreshing, up-beat pop song which provides the perfect beginning to the album. In contrast to this 'Go Get The Cops' is a Simon and Garfunkel influenced track which relies mainly on lusicous vocal harmonies and accoustic guitars and is probably as equally good as anything Simon and Garfunkel recorded. 'Some Days' is another of the stand-out tracks on the album and has a wonderfully beautiful and positive feel to it. 'Per Second, Per Second, Per Second ...Every Second' is possibly one of the most beautiful album titles I have ever heard, envoking images of the importance of time, the importance of savouring every second of life, seeing it as a marathon, not a race. And in many ways that captures the general feel of the album as a whole. In many ways, it may not live up to the high standard that Wheat set themselves when they recorded 'Hope and Adams', but it is still an album full of highly crafted rock songs that fit together perfectly and leave you wanting more.

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D Baum - 29/01/2005
Great review! This band has an ageless feel. A guitar-friend of mine passed the C-D on to me and I was hooked after the fourth time through it. Well-crafted song-writing, melodies that stick to the brain, and cool layers of guitar and keyboards, make this one a keeper. The fresh vocals (reminding me of the main vocalist of "They might be Giants") are also layered into the mix in an instrumental-like fashion. I loved it and will try to spread the word out to other music lovers. Hey, what's with the, 13th track, blank and the 14th having a nice spacey tune attached song! (not mentioned on the C-D)? Hey it was all good.Quirky, electronic, goofing around only makes this C-D more special! If this band can get a 45 yr. old guitarist inspired, I can only hope that kids can appreciate the effort these young musicians put into it.


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