In a steamy haze of feedback and textured guitar fuzz, Cwiredband’s Angel Circuit Engaged gets rocking and rolling to a furious beat in the brand new record’s title track, and if its four and a half minutes of sheer sonic brutality don’t get your heart racing as fast as Seattle Slew once did, then one of the other five songs on this stunning extended play definitely will. “Botticelli Baby” picks up right where this introductory track leaves off and gallops into the sunset with a fiery riff that is certain to inspire an increase in volume among listeners; ironically it contains only a fraction of the energy that the songs that follow it do.
“Persian Woman” has a jarring rhythm that anxiously spits vivacious lyrics at us from both the left and the right channels before leaving us to be crushed by an intimidating bassline.
SOUNDCLOUD: soundcloud.com/user-183573562/sets/angel-circuit-engaged
“Angels Are Not Afraid of the Dark” is probably the most complicated track on the record, but I don’t get the impression that it was designed with an arrogant core. For the most part, Cwiredband kept it fairly conservative when it comes to external frills in their music. What makes this EP so much better than past cuts isn’t its style, but ,rather its conciseness and efficient structuring, which are both big upgrades from what we heard in Omega.
Just when we thought we’d heard it all from this crew, they lay a song like “Climb the Mountain” on us. In this diverse rock n’ roll jam, Cwiredband gets as experimental as they’ve ever been and incorporate a devilish drum lick that makes the entire record worth giving it a spin. From this percussive spellbinder to the pop-centric bluster of “Little Sisters” and the poetic title track, serious rock fans have a lot to be excited about in this latest release from the enigmatic indie rocker.
Clay Burton