The Wans to play ACL Fest, CMJ – acclaimed new album He Said, She Said out now
THE WANS PLAY AUSTIN CITY LIMITS FEST OCT. 4 WITH INTERPOL, TUNE-YARDS & BROKEN BELLS, MULTIPLE DATES AT CMJ OCT. 21-25
L-R Mark Petaccia, Thomas Bragg, Simon Kerr – Photo by: Jason Lee Denton
RIYL: Whigs, Speedy Ortiz, Soundgarden, Raconteurs
“Can’t get enough of these Nashville rockers… Start getting into them now, before the rest of the country catches on.” -USA Today
“Feels like the soundtrack for a bar brawl, where bottles are smashed over heads and pool sticks are snapped in half… an energetic, guitar-heavy assault that demands to be played loudly.” -Consequence of Sound
“Mixes Zeppelin, Cream, and ‘newer’ bands like Nirvana to come up with a ‘60s meets ‘90s sound that should fly with modern listeners.” -A.V. Club
“They mix the well-trodden influences of Black Sabbath and Jimmy Page, combining them with grunge’s most thrashing elements, and ending up somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age and the Dead Weather.” -Flavorwire
“Steamroller guitar riffs and vocals about partying all night every night.” -NME
“Turn-of-the-century garage-rock revivalism.” -Nashville Scene
“All of the gusto and overdrive power of great classic rock.” –PopMatters
Oct. 2, 2014 – The Wans will be playing both Austin City Limits Fest and CMJ this month, sharing the stage with mega-stars like Eminem, Skrillex & Iggy Azalea and indie darlings like Interpol, Tune-Yards & Broken Bells. CMJ also premiered The Wans’ new video “Never Win” off of their new album He Said, She Said last week. “The video really shows our sense of humor.” Frontman Simon Kerr told CMJ. ” We take our music pretty seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously.” The video was then immediately picked up by The Nerdist who said, “It is a disastrous melange of bruise inducing bad luck and misanthropic children, and it should make you feel better about your day unless part of you caught on fire or was unceremoniously amputated. All the while we are treated to The Wans brand of flailing garage rock that sounds uncannily like early aughts White Stripes.”
Enjoy…
Since they formed two years ago, the band has shared bills with artists such as Pearl Jam, Beck, Queens of the Stone Age and the Black Lips, and their music has been featured on ABC’s Nashville, A&E’s Longmire and USA’s Necessary Roughness.
He Said, She Said was produced by Dave Cobb (Rival Sons, Jason Isbell) & mixed by Vance Powell (Jack White, Arctic Monkeys). The band wrote over 40 songs for the new record before whittling them down—with the aid of producer Cobb—to the 10 best. “We tracked all the songs in one week at Dave’s studio, which is completely analog,” says lead singer/guitarist Simon Kerr. “He has this old mixing board that some of our favorite albums were recorded on—The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin. The sound of that board really guided us on He Said, She Said. We cut it completely live—even the vocals.”
“And we were at Dave’s the whole time—basically slept on his floor the week we made the record,” says drummer Mark Petaccia. “We’d sleep for an hour or two a night then wake up, drink some whiskey and get back to recording. It was intense, but it was fun.”
On He Said, She Said, The Wans channel both the classic riff rock of Led Zeppelin & Cream and the grunge of ’90s bands like Nirvana & Soundgarden, but with a modern twist. “We’re all massive fans of ’60s rock and most certainly the early-’90s grunge movement,” says bassist Thomas Bragg, “but we didn’t really go into this planning to make a ’90s-sounding record. Once the album was finished, though, it had certainly gone in that direction, and we all looked at each other and knew we had something special.” The songs on He Said, She Said possess the same swagger as on the band’s 2012 self-titled debut EP, but they’re more focused than ever. And they’re all pretty much about drunken one night stands & break ups. (“Not that I endorse any of those things,” Kerr laughs.)
The Wans picked up their name from transplant Kerr’s hometown back in Ireland. “It’s everyday slang in Derry,” he says. “Pretty much, it means ‘The Ones,’ but the way it’s spelled is the way it’s pronounced in an Irish accent. So now everyone has to pronounce it that way!”
With the release of He Said, She Said, a new music video on the way, a fall tour in the works as well as some prime festival appearances at the Hangout, Forecastle and Austin City Limits, 2014 is set to be a breakout year for The Wans.
CHECK OUT THE WANS THIS MONTH
Oct 4 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival
Oct 21 – NYC, NY @ CMJ- BMI showcase @ The Knitting Factory @ 8pm
Oct 21 – NYC, NY @ CMJ- Bar Matchless @ 10:45
Oct 24 – NYC, NY @ CMJ- Spike Hill @ 4:30
Oct 25 – NYC, NY @ Arlene’s Grocery between 12-6pm
LISTEN TO “NEVER WIN” AT USA TODAY POP CANDY
WATCH “NEVER WIN” VIDEO AT CMJ
WATCH “NEVER WIN” VIDEO AT THE NERDIST
LISTEN TO “I CAN’T FIX YOU” AT THE A.V. CLUB
LISTEN TO “TIRED” AT FLAVORWIRE
LISTEN TO “BLACK PONY” AT POPMATTERS
LISTEN TO “SO CRUEL” AT CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND
LISTEN TO “WHAT I’M FEELING’ AT GLIDE
LISTEN TO “TURN YOUR BACK” AT NASHVILLE SCENE