Athens band Wieuca has slowly, steadily carved out a spot in the scene by transforming its once-boilerplate indie rock sound into something psych-addled, pop-minded and altogether more exploratory. Hints of krautrock dot “Pressure Head,” the group’s new single, which you can stream below:
Says Wieuca’s William Ingram:
It irks me a little when I hear artists I respect, like Frank Black and David Byrne, say their lyrics are nonsense, strictly for entertainment. A song is a vehicle used to deliver a feeling in a compact form. For me, a buzzing quarter-inch says as much as a line of poetry, but you can limit ambiguity by packaging that feeling verbally. And it’s fun to scream, shout and freak out, so why not kill two Mama Casses with one sandwich?
In “Pressure Head,” that feeling is the confused trifecta of a paralyzing fear of failure, the legitimate euphoria of playing a great show and having a calling that you’ve tried to reject but somehow can’t stop waking up in the night to record a riff or melody. By the end of the song, that feeling is an exhausted surrender. You can stack your fears and ambitions until they tip over and crush you, but I learned that sometimes you can abandon them and tell everyone, “Fuck it, let’s just rock.” Enjoy.
Wieuca plays the 40 Watt Club on Friday, Sept. 4.
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