Philly-based darkwave duo Hot Guts offer a first glimpse of their second-full length, Wilds. And even if they might not have the most appetizing of monikers (don’t even try Google Imaging them), “Will Carry” is a surprising five-minute survey of many different moods and musical movements. From post-punk to new wave to tribal industrial, there’s a hint of everything in this track, mostly thanks to Shari Wallin’s deceptively bouncy synth lines and intriguing drum machine patterns.
Accented by the stiff, mechanical strings and carefully measured guitar riffs, it’s simultaneously eerie and exciting, something strangely stimulating about the entire chug-a-lug affair. All this is only enhanced by Wes Russell’s distorted, muffled baritone, which repeats “your love will carry us past” along with an assortment of very New Romantics-esque scenarios (these bodies of ash, feral and savage we will roam, turn to the shadows we call home, etc. etc.). That is until the oddly power-jammy, 80s revivalist interlude sweeps you off your feet and proceeds to make you feel like you’re in some sort of weird, glammy Valhalla nightmare.
Hot Guts’ Wilds is out November 10 on Avant! Records.
