The Wytches – All Your Happy Life

The Psych-rock phenomenon The Wytches are back, with a new permanent member in the form of Mark Breed and another well-established cult album. All Your Happy Life is a solid second record, following up Annabel Dream Reader in an impressive style. Their sound still resonates as a fusion of ‘Humbug’ era Arctic Monkeys mixed with ‘Bleach’ of Nirvana, whilst being much darker overall than their debut.

The listener is immediately hit by the single off of the album “C-Side”. The concoction of nihilistic lyrics are impressively complemented by The Wycthes characterful “baroque ‘n’ roll” style. “C-Side” is the lead single, and in itself is a journey for the listener. The fluctuating and oscillating trip eventually winds down into the ever-upbeat “Can’t Face It”. This has more of a grunge sound to it, with undertones of paranoia and unease in perfect Wytches fashion. These lucid, grimey tracks make All Your Happy Life an experience for fans, not just another album to listen to. This slightly gloomier outlook conveyed by The Wytches is probably why they’re currently supporting Jamie T on tour. Particularly as the latter’s most recent album undoubtedly has a distinctly heavier and retro-grunge sound to it making a band such as The Wytches perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9FQ7eMV-CQ

The album proceeds into “A Feeling We Get” and “Throned”. These songs are a lot slower than the majority of the album, almost seeming to have a sound more in common to that of the American-Indie-Rock band ‘Turnover’. Thus the album itself is centred around an unspoken darkness that enchants ‘The Wytches’. This is particularly seen in “Crest of Death”. Personally, these two tracks are akin to that of Fuzz – “What’s In My Head’ in terms of the impending doom of the song as well as the entire bleakness and desperation behind the lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_BixyTrY7o

“Ghost House” is a look back towards their debut album. It, alongside “Bone-Weary”, feels less constrained by the black cloud circling the other songs on the record. The beginning of “Ghost House” builds up a sense of hope with Kristian Bell’s identifiable vocals enticing the listener into an aurora of safety; yet the song soon devolves into a classic Wytches thrash of a rugged and rigid, heavy riff displaying their true majesty. This may have been influenced by other bands on ‘Heavenly Records’; such as: Hooten Tennis Club, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Temples and even The Vines. The boys based in Brighton have definitely justified themselves for a headline tour, smashing the famous “difficult second album”.

The Wytches keep their doom-meets-indie-rock with the final three songs on the new album: “A Dead Night Again”, “Dumb-Fill” and “Home”. Personally, “Dumb-Fill” is one of my favourites off of All Your Happy Life. Its eerie nature is somewhat comforting and unnerving at the same time, as if Nick Cave and Richard Hawley wrote a song together. “Dumb-Fill” is the type of song that directors want to create a video for; it seems to bring with it its own atmosphere, standing out for me to the rest of the album. The production quality on the album is seen in “Home”, bringing the album to a slightly calmer end through the use of a slightly jazzy synth together with some 70s-esque guitar playing. Thus showing the maturity and confidence of all four band members to contrast and challenge the more punky image they created through the likes of “Gravedweller”.

This new album, released September 30th, is much more complex when compared to their debut album, which in itself was heralded for creating a distinctive sound alongside being likened to the likes of Nivarna and Black Sabbath. The angst, accompanied by the perpetual gloom and sense of being lost, is why many fans think The Wytches create some of the best music to have originated from this miserable wet isle since the likes of Curtis, Smith and McColloch. The Wytches should continue to peruse their current direction, not chasing success as so many “Indie-Rock” bands today do but concentrate on developing and evolving their own specific sound as the “Greats” in music have always done.

I love The Wytches, peace