review.

The Wild - Set Ourselves Free

I was first introduced to this band again by Jeff Rosenstock, through his label quote unquote records, but my attachment came elsewhere. Two years ago, when visiting long island for a reunion show for The Fad, we were getting ready to commence our recording process with Jeff and we had a conversation about his future endeavors outside of his band. He told me that he was looking to start a Plea For Peace center in his native new york and was very much inspired by the work of some Atlanta youngsters that I would later know as The Wild. They had a tremendous part in starting a community center called Wonderroot, which is a non-profit arts organization “commited to uniting artists and community to inspire positive social change”. Not only is does this center have a performance space, but a dark room, recording studio, ceramics studio, and a digital media lab! I didn’t get fully exposed to this band until they came to the middle east club with my friends in Laura Stevenson and the Cans, whom through them I met Wild Banjoer Steve who played as a part of the Cans when we had a mini tour with them in February. Their set was such a refreshing take on one might tag with the “folk punk” moniker, but with an electric sensibility. This show also featured my best friends in The Brave Little Abacus, whose lead singer Adam in the months following this performance really got me into this record. The duality of singers Witt and Diana, whom often sing in unison, really works to their advantage. I would later find that these two were a couple, which really changed my perspective on the way that they express themselves through their songs and especially their lyrics. The way they often express the same words in unison, just says a lot about their relationship and it really is beautiful to be exposed to a couple who are bonded through music in such an intense way. The words themselves are nothing less than exceptional and are laced with so many silver linings, that when listening to this record it can be hard to miss the positivity in life. My relationship with this record was solidified when my friend Adam performed a facebook rendition of their song “Dear Noah” on seven string guitar donned with a goofy hat, which I had previously learned had tainted an experience at disney world. The words of this song didn’t really hit me until after Adam had composed an ensemble to perform it at a garage show over the summer. Before singing the words “These dreams are ours to share together, they’re right in front of our eyes”, Adam expressed his thoughts on how this song represented what our friends had been doing at that point in time. “Just keep you those that love you everywhere that you go” really gave what we we had done in that garage over the previous year a newfound sense of importance. Sometimes we all overlook the fact that what we are doing has significance, when it is so easy to envision the places we could be and the things we could be doing. When in reality, the best times are performing music with people that you love, no matter how many people are there and what the circumstances are. My next encounter with this band would be in Gainesville, Florida as one of the first bands I saw at The Fest. Adam had been anticipating this performance for quite sometime, and this record was in constant rotation on the way down. He had told me how Witt had constantly expressed how much he hoped that Adam was going to be able to attend Fest and seeing how much this meant to them put this band into a different perspective. It was obvious to me at this point how much Witt respected Adams artistry and this meant a lot to someone who has appreciated this kid since the first time I saw him with his high school ska band years ago. What really sealed the deal with this band though was watching this band with Adam and the Cans, set fire to the local bike shop on the first night of the festival. When “Dear Noah” was performed, in place of, where in the record they would say “Hey Kylee!” in which she responds with “WHAT!?”, Adam replaced the role of Kylee as he prompted the intensity that is the bridge of that song. This was such a wonderful way to commence a beautiful weekend and a good point of reference for a time where I found myself bonding with Adam through music more and more. Musically, I don’t think there is much more to say because I think the music speaks for itself. AND its FREE on quote unquote records. I can only look forward to developing my relationship with this band further in 2011.