I Want To Feel At Home

WU LYF “Heavy Pop”

I’m sure this will come across as a pithy, dismissive joke to some people, but I like WU LYF because they sound like a caveman version of U2. Both bands lean hard on delay, grand gestures and the implication of a vast, wide open space, but WU LYF’s style is primitive and aggressive. Ellery Roberts howls like a maniac, his words are incomprehensible but his emotions are naked and blunt. The album version of “Heavy Pop” begins with the sound of piano chords echoing through empty space, but once that passage is through, it’s all wailing and smashing. It’s raw and intense, but not formless. The vocals and percussion are balanced out by the delicate, pretty sound of the guitar, which shifts through the piece — changing direction at one point, or seeming to lift up when the singer sounds as if he’s collapsed in exhaustion.

Buy it from Amazon.