Oddball four-piece Waco have been impressing those in and around the UK for a few years now with their inspired, if a little over-the-top brand of punk rock. ‘Uprise’, their second EP, sees them not just surpassing their previous efforts, but looking down on them from a great height and laughing at them.
Although only five tracks long, ‘Uprise’ is so immediate that there’s no way the listener can’t be sucked in from the very starting chords of ‘A Mighty Hope’, and so irrepressibly catchy that those five tracks are just left on repeat for fear of you putting on something that won’t make you feel quite like this. ‘Uprise’ is music that is meant to be shared, meant to be enjoyed by a group of people in a room together. In the same vein as Rancid and The Vandals, both of whom we’re willing to guess are bands that Waco have listened to quite extensively, this kind of bouncy punk rock is made to be cranked up ear-bleedingly loud and danced to.
That isn’t to say that it isn’t enjoyable to listen to on record though. Lead single ‘SE17’ is fun no matter what context you listen to it in. What makes this EP feel so endearing is the raw nature of it. There are no production thrills, no extra little bits of flare added in. There’s barely any effects on the guitars save distortion. Songs like ‘Salem’ could only have been written and recorded by four guys and a producer in a room.
With two stellar EPs now under their belt, Waco are surely ready to release a full-length, and if they can write songs that are the same calibre as the ones on ‘Uprise’ there’s no reason at all it won’t be a punk rock favourite for the masses.
ANDY LEDDINGTON