Wednesday’s Twin Plagues: Playing with Noise

By Victor Guevara
Music Journalist

On their sophomore album, North Carolina’s five-piece collective, Wednesday, grimes up their shoegaze-like sound, adding distortion, wailing guitars, and haunting vocals to create a noise-filled album sure to catch any listener.

Starting the album off, the title track “Twin Plagues” throws the listener into an ominous, eerie environment. Slowly building momentum through the layers of fuzzy distorted guitars and lead singer Karly Hartzman’s emotion-filled vocals instantly give the listener a taste of what the album has to offer.

This feeling continues as the album moves onto songs such as “The Burned Down Dairy Queen” and “Cliff,” where the songs begin to add more emphasis to Hartzman’s unique delivery of lyrics reminiscent of a diary entry. She paints images of a rundown Dairy Queen and references things from her childhood, such as trips with her family or popular media at the time, as wailing guitars float around until we reach an emotion-filled and intense ending.

If there is one thing this album excels at, it is the growth into rock endings. These shifts are created organically. As the different colored guitars and vocals begin to wail and layer on top of each other, this creates an orchestral sound that leaves the listener with a taste of perfectly curated noise.

Things change pace as we reach the track “How Can You Live If You Can’t Love How Can You If You Do,” as the band switches colors in the music, entering a more intimate folk ballad. Carried by layers of the pedal and slow, romantic guitar, the band displays their versatility as Hartzman yearns for an unattainable person.

This intimate storytelling continues until the last track “Ghost of a Dog.” “Ghost of a Dog” is a minimally emotional song about past trauma and grieving of a passed pet, as a thick strumming guitar and shaly Hartzman vocals carry us out of the album, giving us every last bit of charm the band has to give.

A record full of nostalgic, ghastly memories and images, Wednesday continues to break the boundaries of their music as they redefine themselves with each release. This emotional, heavy album full of dynamic and fuzz shows off the unique atmosphere and storytelling that only Wednesday can create. The album feels alive with a variety of grim colors, emotionally dense lyrics, and organic crescendos of noise. Wednesday’s unique twist on indie rock is one meant to be listened to, and a great entryway into their other fantastic work.