"never have no power / never count the hours..."
A manic runaround banger pushed by dominant bass runs, screaming guitars, a smashed machine beat and a ridiculously unfettered snarling, yelping vocal countenance, "Rules" by Wristwatch compelling on many levels. The barrage of sound, a sort of Buzzcocks-ian raucous brawl of a song with Bobby Hussy's vocal bloodletting that might run somewhere in between Jello Biafra and that one guy near the liquor store who goes off talking to the demons in his head might be described as busker punk but I would call it highly artful busker punk. Upon repeated listens, the complexities arise, the intersecting guitar lines, the bounce, the push, rush and pull of the vocal melodies and the lead lines that seem to orchestrate the gang-esque vox during the outro.
From press notey stuff:
Wristwatch took shape when Bobby Hussy asked longtime collaborator Tyler Spatz (The Hussy, Cave Curse, Poney) to put bass on a group of punk songs Hussy had been crafting at his home studio Hex Empire during the beginning of the pandemic. Hussy was taking a new approach to the hooky punk rock he had been churning out for the past decade plus in the bands The Hussy and Fire Heads...this time using drum machines and harmonic guitar leads as the foundation.
AND
To fill out the live band Hussy recruited longtime friends Ben Dederich (Guitar) and Eric Hartz (Drums). Tyler Spatz plays bass and sings backup with Hussy fronting the band playing guitar and singing lead. The quartet quickly began performing regionally, gaining opening slots for punk legends Agent Orange and MDC, as well as up and comers Starcrawler, Julia Shapiro (Chastity Belt) and Gustaf. Due to demand Hussy's own label No Coast (Thee Oh Sees, Digital Leather, Red Mass) repressed Wristwatch in the middle of 2022...and that second pressing also quickly sold out via mail-order and at shows throughout the Midwest.
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3wXp8xxCCV9xfBfkFFe6F9
https://www.instagram.com/bobbyhussy/
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/wristwatch/1567315503
Wristwatch's debut self-titled LP was a blistering set of 10 songs that quickly sold out when it was released on Philadelphia's FDH Records (Lost Sounds, Digital Leather) in July of 2021. The album gained rave reviews from Maximum Rock N Roll, Razorcake, Raven Sings The Blues, and it even caught the attention of Henry Rollins who called Wristwatch a "cool band" while playing a couple of cuts from the band on his radio show.
With a third pressing of the self-titled LP imminent via No Coast, Hussy and Spatz are preparing to unleash their followup aptly titled II. The album features a more varied approach while staying true to the energy and edginess of the debut. II showcases the band's dynamic range and succinctly highlights their strong suits. This time around there are even more hypnotizing harmonic leads, and more gnarly bass lines that sandwich simply hooky melodies between frenetic drum machines and chaotic landscapes. II is sure to be a pivotal point in Hussy's ever evolving catalog that the punk underground has known about for the past decade plus.
Bobby Hussy's previous output in his band The Hussy with Heather Sawyer (Proud Parents, Heather The Jerk) gained national recognition from Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, Spin, The Onion's A/V Club and a slew of other publications. Pitchfork praised the band's "nuance" on their third record Pagan Hiss, and they also included The Hussy's swan song, Looming, in their Best Punk and Garage Rock Albums of 2019 list. The band released seven LPs on labels such as Dirtnap Records, Southpaw and Tic Tac Totally, alongside a mountain of singles on various American and European labels. During their 12 year run, The Hussy toured America extensively, as well as jaunts to Europe and Australia. They performed alongside contemporary luminaries Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Twin Peaks, King Khan and BBQ, Reigning Sound, Night Beats, A Giant Dog, Direct Hit!, legendary staples Mudhoney and Local H, and too many other amazing bands to name them all here.
Bobby Hussy has also previously spent significant time detouring from garage rock toward electronic music with his synth-punk outfit Cave Curse as well as the darkwave post-punk band TIT he fronts alongside Shawn Foree of Digital Leather. Hussy is definitely no stranger to keyboards...but Wristwatch is the first time he feels like he's truly crafted a brilliantly balanced and sonically shattered mix of punk rock electronics with an earnest Midwestern punk ethos that only the No Coast can provide.
Wristwatch, punk duo, alt rock, experimental punk, garage rock, Bobby Hussy and Tyler Spatz, new album "Wristwatch II", punk barrage of "Rules",
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3wXp8xxCCV9xfBfkFFe6F9
https://www.instagram.com/bobbyhussy/
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/wristwatch/1567315503
Wristwatch's debut self-titled LP was a blistering set of 10 songs that quickly sold out when it was released on Philadelphia's FDH Records (Lost Sounds, Digital Leather) in July of 2021. The album gained rave reviews from Maximum Rock N Roll, Razorcake, Raven Sings The Blues, and it even caught the attention of Henry Rollins who called Wristwatch a "cool band" while playing a couple of cuts from the band on his radio show.
With a third pressing of the self-titled LP imminent via No Coast, Hussy and Spatz are preparing to unleash their followup aptly titled II. The album features a more varied approach while staying true to the energy and edginess of the debut. II showcases the band's dynamic range and succinctly highlights their strong suits. This time around there are even more hypnotizing harmonic leads, and more gnarly bass lines that sandwich simply hooky melodies between frenetic drum machines and chaotic landscapes. II is sure to be a pivotal point in Hussy's ever evolving catalog that the punk underground has known about for the past decade plus.
Bobby Hussy's previous output in his band The Hussy with Heather Sawyer (Proud Parents, Heather The Jerk) gained national recognition from Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, Spin, The Onion's A/V Club and a slew of other publications. Pitchfork praised the band's "nuance" on their third record Pagan Hiss, and they also included The Hussy's swan song, Looming, in their Best Punk and Garage Rock Albums of 2019 list. The band released seven LPs on labels such as Dirtnap Records, Southpaw and Tic Tac Totally, alongside a mountain of singles on various American and European labels. During their 12 year run, The Hussy toured America extensively, as well as jaunts to Europe and Australia. They performed alongside contemporary luminaries Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Twin Peaks, King Khan and BBQ, Reigning Sound, Night Beats, A Giant Dog, Direct Hit!, legendary staples Mudhoney and Local H, and too many other amazing bands to name them all here.
Bobby Hussy has also previously spent significant time detouring from garage rock toward electronic music with his synth-punk outfit Cave Curse as well as the darkwave post-punk band TIT he fronts alongside Shawn Foree of Digital Leather. Hussy is definitely no stranger to keyboards...but Wristwatch is the first time he feels like he's truly crafted a brilliantly balanced and sonically shattered mix of punk rock electronics with an earnest Midwestern punk ethos that only the No Coast can provide.
Wristwatch, punk duo, alt rock, experimental punk, garage rock, Bobby Hussy and Tyler Spatz, new album "Wristwatch II", punk barrage of "Rules",
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