[photo by Jack Dash]
If you thought that the unqualified success that Wussy achieved as a result of their 2014 year’s best album Attica was the pinnacle of their career, then you’ve joined the long line of people who’ve underestimated this inspiring band. On Friday, Wussy released Forever Sounds and the record takes the band’s sound to higher levels than even the rarefied air of Attica. The opening track “Dropping Houses” is one of the biggest sounding songs the band has ever produced. Chuck Cleaver’s numbers are more confident and aggressive than his recent oeuvre (“She’s Killed Hundreds” and “Gone”) and his material is consistently strong. Lisa Walker continues to be an incredibly versatile performer with a spectrum of songs that draw from everything to hard rock/grunge (the previously mentioned “Dropping Houses”) to folk (the gorgeous “Majestic-12”). In between those poles are what may be her most perfectly realized rock song “Donny’s Death Scene” and her darkest number “Hand of God”. Forever Sounds is also the album where Wussy’s vocals are better than ever, the production is top notch, and the instrumentation is superb. AllMusic says that to call the album a “masterpiece” would be “premature”, but nevertheless its a “deeply satisfying work”. Of all of the positive reviews that have arrived for Forever Sounds, this seems to be the most accurate assessment of this superb record.
As fate would have it, Wussy arrived in NYC on the very day the album was released and played a show at a venue that is perhaps too modest for their current draw, but a place that has been a positive location for the group. We’ve seen them two prior times at The Studio at Webster Hall, and Wussy has played excellent shows each time. But on Friday, all of the planets aligned and Wussy played a show for the ages. The setlist surely consisted of a good dose of the new album (eight of the ten songs were played) but the band also featured some classic material, deep cuts, a cover that we’d seen before (“Ceremony”) and one thoroughly obscure cover. This show was also the longest shows we’ve seen Wussy play — a few seconds longer than the Knitting Factory show in 2014. The packed house seemed to agree, as the band was called back twice for multiple encores.
As we’ve noted often recently, Wussy will return to NYC to play an NYCTaper Presents show at Trans-Pecos on March 30. I can confirm that this show will consist of a very special setlist. And as there is no late night event at Pecos that night, the band will be permitted to play as long as they choose! Tickets are still available [HERE].
I recorded this set with the Schoeps clamped to the soundboard cage and mixed with a soundboard feed superbly done by house FOH David Fine. The result is an outstanding recording. Enjoy!
Download the Complete Show [MP3] / [FLAC]
Stream the Complete Show [minus banter tracks]:
Wussy
2016-03-04
Studio at Webster Hall
New York NY
Digital Master Recording
Soundboard + Audience Matrix
Soundboard [Engineer David Fine] + Schoeps CCM4u Cardioids > Sound Devices 744t > 2 x 24bit 48kHz wavs > Soundforge (post-production) > CDWave 1.95 (tracking) > TLH > flac (320 MP3 and tagging via Foobar)
Recorded and Produced by nyctaper
Setlist:
[Total Time 1:21:37]
01 [introduction]
02 She’s Killed Hundreds
03 Gone
04 Teenage Wasteland
05 Pizza King
06 Sidewalk Sale
07 Better Days
08 To The Lightning
09 [banter – record release]
10 Hello I’m a Ghost
11 Hand of God
12 [banter – Trans-Pecos]
13 Ceremony [New Order]
14 [banter – look]
15 Dropping Houses
16 [interlude]
17 Beautiful
18 [encore break]
19 Donny’s Death Scene
20 [banter – Dag Nasty]
21 Aliens In Our Midst [The Twinkeyz]
22 Pulverized
23 Airborne
24 [second encore break]
25 Rigor Mortis
SUPPORT Wussy: Website | Buy Forever Sounds | Bandcamp
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