Rock band WSTR have released their latest E.P. SKRWD. 

By Jane Howkins.

   SKRWD is the début release by pop-punkers WSTR and it’s an impressive E.P., both in terms of it’s musicality and length. It’s actually rather long for a first E.P., with six songs presented to give listeners an introduction to what the band can do, which is rare for a band just starting out – although there are no complaints to be had here over that!

It’s typical pop-punk fodder that WSTR play, but they have a catchy bent to their tunes and a frenetic pace that doesn’t let up. Opener South Drive is one of our favourites, starting out with a great riff that morphs into a more potent song.

The vocal content doesn’t stray far from the genre’s trappings, but then it could be asked whether it really needs to, when the musical content is this good. The lyrics sing mostly of girls and old friends – two things which are lyrical staples of pop-punk music, but considering that this is the first release from a young band that is to be expected, and over time it would be hoped that they would mature along with the rest of their peers.

Third track Graveyard Shift is the lead single from SKRWD and is also rather catchy, whilst managing to experiment with a few interesting tempo changes – always welcome in a genre that has a reputation for being generic. However, we did find ourselves questioning why this song has been released as the first single, as whilst it’s good it doesn’t quite match the bite and ferocity that other songs such as Ain’t Great and the aforementioned South Drive have. It seems like a bit of a safe choice, but then again, if people liked the single and came looking for the E.P. specifically from that, then they have even better songs to look forward to.

Skrwd is a little generic at times, but it’s worth checking out if you are a pop-punk fan, and considering how impressive and ambitious a first release this is, it’ll be very interesting to see what WSTR come up with next.