Falling Stacks: No Wives

Falling Stacks is a British band. They’ve been around for a few years and have a few EP’s out. Somehow they’re not the biggest thing in the punk/metal/grunge/just plain heavy music scene. Hopefully their debut album, titled No Wives can change that. A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of premiering “No Stops,” this time around, we get to cover their big debut.

No Wives is a twist of demented vocals and nightmarish melodies. Falling Stacks hardly ever lets up on the eerie level. Minor chords, interesting effects, vocals that sound like the hollering of a loony bin –it’s all there. Like some sort of prom night baby between Big Black and Les Claypool, Falling Stacks completely shocks you with the weird while luring you in with the greatest jams.

More than anything, the song composition stands out. The bass is prevalent and powerful. The way it works throughout each song, moving along with a thunderous stride is gnarly. The guitar are always looking for a chance to thrash, always looking for that moment to play with an unmatched intensity. The drums are just plain used tactfully –they feel so well composed it hurts. Falling Stacks has created a music nerd’s wet dream. No Wives just does it better than any other album of the kind.

It would be unfair to silence the dissenting opinion and so I’ll just say it. Falling Stacks’ No Wives is a hefty listen. It isn’t accessible and you need to be prepared. This album is stranger than the X-Files. No matter how in love some might be with this album, others are going to tear it to pieces. People might feel that it mimics some obscure band or that it is just too this or that or whatever. I really don’t think these naysayers will be far off the mark, No Wives is a risky endeavor but it’s just too good for this guy to say anything that bad.

Some are going to say No Wives is genius, others will call it trash. On one hand, you have some seriously great atmosphere and just in general a pretty good dark, punk-like album. On the other, it’s just not pleasant –the typical conventions say that No Wives is no good. The listener is best to keep their subjective opinion to themselves on this one –you’re going to love it or hate it. This is an album that needs to be listened to now rather than later. Falling Stacks is onto something and their unique style is superb. For the love of all that is good, please listen to No Wives. Dislike it? –fine, what matters is that you tried it.

Rating: 9.0/10


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