Bent Shapes - Wolves Of Want
- Written by Ashley Stein
Boston four-piece, Bent Shapes are a self-described post-collegiate indie rock band from Boston and Wolves of Want is their second album. Bent Shapes have been going since 2009 earning critical acclaim from the likes of Pitchfork and touring with the rather important John Vanderslice and were quoted as being “some of the tightest punk poetry around” by music writer Liz Pelly.
Whilst we're inclined to agree with Liz, these songs flow so well together with rhyme after rhyme, but the production somewhat lacks in the vocals area.
There are two exceptions however that were able to give a glimpse in to what everyone else was so excited about. 'What We Do Is Public', the first official release from the album, is instrumentally brilliant; there are so many subtle effects going on with the guitar that build a great sound within the background of the song and the drums seem to be able to have a life of their own, whilst still being in time with the rest of the band. Ben Potrykus’s voice is interesting too, I found it to be very similar in tone to the Red Hot Chili Peppers's Anthony Kiedis especially when he harmonises with bassist Jenny Mudarri giving a familiarity to the song overall.
The albums last track, 'Intransitive Verbs' is also brilliant. Musically it’s so wonderfully simple yet lyrically it possess Potrykus’s astounding wordsmanship that we have heard so much about. Sadly the complex content is sometimes hard to follow, meaning that the true meaning of this song and many others could get lost among instrumentals.
In general, Wolves of Want is a pretty fast album with one or two stand out tracks the quality of which comes down to nothing but personal opinion. Definitely one worth checking out if you enjoyed their previous work.