Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
Cornwall, UK, alt rockers Wunderhorse had a pretty massive 2024, releasing their sophomore album Midas to critical acclaim and exploding in popularity. They capped off the year with a run supporting the English heartland rocker Sam Fender on tour for his People Watching LP, and less than a year after Midas they’re already back with a new single. It’s called “The Rope,” and it sure sounds like their time on the road with Fender bled into the track.
“The Rope” eschews a lot of the noisy alt rock influences that permeated Midas in favor of a cleaner heartland rock style. The guitars rollick and shimmer, jangly riffs wound tightly around a pulsating kickdrum beat. There’s a lot of The War on Drugs in the way the guitars sparkle in the chorus underneath Jacob Slater’s ragged snarl. (Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs produced more than three-quarters of Fender’s People Watching–coincidence?)
Wunderhorse might be damning the torpedoes, but they haven’t given up all the scuzziness that made Midas such a hit. Slater’s vocals are as feral as ever, even as he turns the three-word chorus –”don’t let go!“–into one of the band’s catchiest yet, and with each successive repetition the band gets louder and more unhinged. It isn’t dissimilar to the balance Wild Pink struck on last year’s masterful Dulling the Horns, and it doesn’t sound like Wunderhorse will be letting go anytime soon.
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Zac Djamoos | @gr8whitebison
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