The Wytches debut album ‘Annabel Dream Reader’ really grabbed my attention like no other band since the explosion of music from the West Coast of America in the early 90's. Comparable to when I first discovered the likes of Smashing Pumpkins and Nivarna's first albums which is not surprising as The Wytches borrow heavily from the West Coast and Seattle bands.

The Wytches are a young three piece consisting of Kristian Bell on vocals & guitar and Gianni Honey on drums who moved down to Brighton University and hooked up with Dan Rumsey on bass, the sole applicant of an advert placed on campus a couple of years ago.

Since then The Wytches have played countless shows across the UK and Europe, supporting the likes of Blood Red Shoes, The Cribs and Drenge and in 2013 they released a couple of singles and a EP ‘Beehive Queen’, 'Thunder Lizard Revisited EP' and ‘Robe for Juda’ before attracting the attention of Heavenly Recordings who have now released their debut album, recorded in just two days at Liam Watson’s 8-track analogue ToeRag Studios in Hackney with producer Bill Ryder-Jones the guitarist from The Coral.

Annabel Dream Reader kicks off with screeching guitars that would not have seemed out of place on Nivarna's 'Bleach' album at the beginning of the first track 'Digsaw' which then bounces sweetly between the heavy and more atmospheric parts which is a bit of a trademark of the album as a whole. Unlike most other bands you never quite know what the next 4 bars of music will bring and it's not just the gentle songs which have heavy parts but vice versa while the music styles manage to mingle sublimely as the feel of each song dictates without ever leaving you behind. Each track feels like a journey, more often than not turning into a gloriously dark adventure.

To fully appreciate the album I would recommend sitting down and listening to the album like a classic album from Pink Floyd or The Who as you will be richly rewarded and most likely start listening to the album again as soon as it comes to an end. For me Annabel Dream Reader has been on constant repeat since I first got my copy.

A lot of the lyrics are rammed full of teen angst like 'You sit there and laugh while my dignity collapses' from the very Slashing Pumpkins sounding track 'Wire Frame Mattress' or 'I woke up like a stranger … I swallow too much pride' from 'Part Time Model'. The songs often delve into the dark side of life like a Leonard Cohen epic and are delivered with a dark passion, rising to fever pitch at times screaming for the punch line.

I note that all the band members have previously played in hardcore metal bands prior to The Wytches, which certainly comes through in the music but when mixed with the psychedelic together with runs of Egyptian scales and other styles makes it much more accessible. The Wytches were featured as The Guardian's 'band of the day' back in May 2013 just before they released their debut single 'Beehive Queen' but I believe this is only just the beginning and they will receive even more praise in the future as they clearly have much more in their locker and not just not one of these hype bands that explode and slowly fade away.

I see this band hitting a nerve and becoming a voice for this generation.

Jonski Mason

Website: thewytches.com
Facebook: facebook.com/thewytches
Twitter: twitter.com/TheWytches