Austin's Have To Have crashes together grunge and sock hop punk tones on "Wring Me Out" (Official Video)

AP Track Review

On Wring Me Out- Austin indie punk band Have To Have trade off / blend in sort of grungy punk tones with tropical and sock hop punk flavors. It feels a bit like a car crash of The Frights, Surf Curse, The Buttertones with a dash of Nirvana. Lazy vague comparisons aside, I really like Julian Berdegue's vox that can be gritty when he wants but slides into those tropical punk croons so well. That ability along with the fervent punk flail of the music is potent and catchy, kudos to the bass and drums and overall tightness, hear that band lick / pretzel twist at around 2 minutes and 4 seconds in (hell, yeah!). Lead lines are sustain-ingly sweet with that bent neck dissonance but not in an overdone way. 

Time for me to delve deeper into Have To Have, who are: Julian Berdegue  (Vox | Guitar), Mitch Stuart (Lead Guitar), Jonathan More (Bass), and Dominic Neri  (Drums).

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Robb Donker




THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

When an expired passport pulled Julián out of the UK and away from his English bandmates, the songwriter didn't get discouraged. "I knew the first thing I had to do was move to Austin and start anew." One year later, his new band Have To Have joined Kelly Donnelly at Fire Station Studios to record their debut album 'Obscuriosity'.

Have To Have started as a trio comprised of frontman Julián Berdegué, punk bassist Jonathan More, and prog rock drummer Dominic Neri, but one jam session with rock guitarist Mitch Stuart changed everything. "We knew he was good going into that rehearsal, but no one expected our notably different styles to complement one another so tastefully," says Julián, "The electricity was palpable." It wasn't long before the band's repertoire of melodic punk-driven songs adopted an alternative twist resembling a time when music videos ran MTV and LimeWire feasted on computers, while still sounding like the latest thing.

"Ultimately, (we) are taking after our heroes and making compelling music that will empower future generations to take agency over their lives and do the same," the band agrees.