I bought The Wrens’ 2003 CD The Meadowlands a few years ago and I gave it one or two spins, but then I forgot all about it as is often the case with Backtrack albums. Now that I’ve given it a couple more listens, I have no idea why I never listened to it again. The Wrens hail from New Jersey and play versatile, layered rock music that seems to explore the edges of pop, but never really becomes easy to sing along with. They do have their bouts of emo – a genre that never caught my fancy – but make it up with songs like the pretty, dreamy “Thirteen Grand”, perfect for a lazy Sunday or “Faster Gun”, which sounds more like happy, American, college rock circa 1998 when it was OK to smile on stage.
My vote for stand out songs go to “Per Second Second” and “This Is Not What You Had Planned”. In the first the instruments take center stage and the vocals merely accompany the dizzying, almost psychedelic scenery. Whereas “This Is Not What You Had Planned” is super short, sparse, most obviously recorded in their living room and the best example of the intimate world they build – flegmy coughs and all.
The Wrens – Faster Gun
The Wrens – Per Second Second
The Wrens – This Is Not What You Had Planned
