Jonathan Hill

Tag: Andrew WK

  • Andrew WK Close Calls With Brick Walls Review

    Artist: Andrew WK
    Album: Close Calls With Brick Walls
    Genre(s): Rock
    Subgenres(s): Art Rock, Noise Rock
    Released: 2006 (Japan), 2010 (international release)
    Length: 48 minutes
    Language(s): English
    Label(s): Universal Music

    Track List:

    01. I Came for You
    02. Close Calls With Bal Harbour
    03. Not Going to Bed
    04. You Will Remember Tonight
    05. Pushing Drugs
    06. Hand on the Place
    07. One Brother
    08. Las Vegas, Nevada
    09. Dr. Dumont
    10. I Want to See You Go Wild
    11. When I’m High
    12. Golden Eyed Dog
    13. Into the Clear
    14. Mark My Grace
    15. Don’t Call Me Andy
    16. The Background
    17. Slam John Against a Brick Wall
    18. The Moving Room

    Close Calls With Brick Walls Cover

    Andrew WK Close Calls With Brick Walls Review

    Close Calls With Brick Walls shows Andrew WK stepping down from the wall of sound approach of I Get Wet and The Wolf entirely. Instead, he allows for his creative spirit to run wild and takes his sound in a direction that no one could have predicted.

    The throaty shouts are just a memory at this point as more conventional singing techniques have taken the helm, but perhaps the biggest change of all is the lack of adrenaline pumping guitars that were a staple of his sound up to this point. While the guitars still have an important role on Close Calls With Brick Walls, equal focus has also been put on writing more memorable moments for the bass, piano and drums that let them share the spotlight.

    Calls With Brick Walls should solidify the artistic integrity of Andrew WK and dispel any notions of him as a gimmick act. The new direction will also probably alienate some hardcore fans who were expecting him to follow up in a similar fashion as before, but Close Calls With Brick Walls will reach out to new listeners and long-time fans alike. Andrew WK’s new sound is unique and just as engaging as his previous efforts but in an entirely different way.

    External Links:

    Andrew WK Homepage
    Andrew WK on Wikipedia | Close Calls With Brick Walls on Wikipedia
    Andrew WK on Discogs | Close Calls With Brick Walls on Discogs

  • Andrew WK The Wolf Review

    Artist: Andrew WK
    Album: The Wolf
    Genre(s): Rock
    Subgenres(s): Hard Rock
    Released: 2003
    Length: 43 minutes
    Language(s): English
    Label(s): Island

    Track List:

    01. Victory Strikes Again
    02. Long Live the Party
    03. Tear it Up
    04. Free Jumps
    05. Never Let Down
    06. Your Rules
    07. The Song
    08. Make Sex
    09. Totally Stupid
    10. Really in Love
    11. The End of Our Lives
    12. I Love Music

    Andrew WK The Wolf Cover
    Andrew WK The Wolf Cover

    Andrew WK The Wolf Review

    The Wolf has some noticeable changes when compared to Andrew WK’s debut effort, I Get Wet. The most striking of which is that the overly sleek, everything-must-be-as-loud-as-possible approach that left all of the instruments in uniform before has been abandoned in favour of creating a more varied and dynamic album. This can be seen through the introduction of flashy guitar leads, louder and improved drum work as well as keyboard/piano playing that comes to the forefront on occasion.

    He no longer relies on the simple mantras to be the focal point of each song and has instead opted to replace them with longer verses with marginally less repetition. The lyrics tend to deal with motivation, life and positivity in addition to the love and party themes that Andrew WK has become known for. While sometimes singing clearly, he also falls into a throaty singing voice that isn’t always easy to understand and can feel out of place at times now that the tempo has been cut back across some of the songs.

    The expansion on his established style prevents him from becoming a self-parody and won’t alienate his core audience anytime soon with this album as he has managed to put enough new material forward to keep the listener engaged without thinking that it is just a reworking of his last effort.

    External Links:

    Andrew WK Homepage
    Andrew WK on Wikipedia | The Wolf on Wikipedia
    Andrew WK on Discogs | The Wolf on Discogs

  • Andrew WK I Get Wet Review

    Artist: Andrew WK
    Album: I Get Wet
    Genre(s): Rock
    Subgenres(s): Hard Rock
    Released: 2001
    Length: 35 minutes
    Language(s): English
    Label(s): Island

    Track List:

    01. It’s Time to Party
    02. Party Hard
    03. Girls Own Love
    04. Ready to Die
    05. Take it Off
    06. I Love NYC
    07. She is Beautiful
    08. Party Til You Puke
    09. Fun Night
    10. Got to Do It
    11. I Get Wet
    12. Don’t Stop Living in the Red

    Andrew WK I Get Wet Cover

    Andrew WK I Get Wet Review

    I Get Wet is a short collection of non-stop, hyperactive party anthems by an extreme extrovert named Andrew WK, who draws stylistically from 80’s hard rock and the glam rock scene while fusing it with the speed and simplicity of punk rock. The average length of each song isn’t much over 3 minutes and most of them barely take a moment to slow down.

    The music is dominated by the guitar and has keyboard and piano lines playing alongside it with thumping hard rock drums not far behind, whereas the bass is pushed underneath all of this and you’ll have to listen intensely if you want even a small chance of hearing it. The album is accompanied by an overly sleek production style where everything is loud, fast and repetitive, leaving little space for variation. This might sound negative but when put into practice it has a surprisingly positive outcome, although it’s worth noting that this could have just as easily been the downfall of the album.

    Most of the lyrics are straight forward and are presented largely in the form of mantras and shout along anthems, all of which will get firmly lodged in your head for weeks after listening to them. Themes strongly revolve around partying to your last breath, women (Girls Own Love and She is Beautiful), motivation (Got to Do It and Don’t Stop Living in the Red) and more partying.

    There are two oddities that break away from the established formula for the lyrics. The first is about killing people in Ready to Die and the other is I Get Wet, which seems to have been written from a woman’s perspective but is barked non-stop almost entirely by Andrew WK for the duration of the song and you can’t possibly keep count of many times the title line is repeated. It does feature female vocals for the last part of the song, which are probably there to break up the snarling and yelling voices momentarily.

    At the end of the day I Get Wet is a big, loud, straight forward, over the top party album that lacks any form of subtlety where you don’t need to engage your brain but you will get hours of fun out of it so long as your tongue is planted firmly in your cheek.

    External Links:

    Andrew WK Homepage
    Andrew WK on Wikipedia | I Get Wet on Wikipedia
    Andrew WK on Discogs | I Get Wet on Discogs