Idler Wheel craft absolute gold on debut record, "Breakers"
Review by Austin Sher
Shared with the world today on November 13th, 2020, Idler Wheel is here with their rocking new album, Breakers. We are absolutely loving it! Do yourselves a favor and read along for our review, in addition to a refresher on the band as well.
You may remember not too long ago when we reviewed the lead single to the record, “If I Catch Fire”. If you didn’t happen to catch it, you’re in luck, because now’s your chance to hop on the Idler Wheel bandwagon. What we heard on the original single initially got us pumped, so we’re thrilled to say that release day is here and that overall, it delivered beyond expectations.
Based out of Boston, Idler Wheel is a direct product of the pandemic. They’re currently creating music as a way to find meaning and expression during this extended weird time. Their songs are inspired by the passing of a dear friend a year earlier, in which they felt compelled to grapple with the loss by embracing the reality that our time here is short. You’ll be able to hear it within their overall sound, but they take influence from legendary acts such as The National, LCD Soundsystem, and Interpol, as well as singer/songwriters like Elvis and Roy Orbison.
Where to even begin with this stunner of an album. At 9 songs in length, it certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome. Throughout the listen there’s a precisely unique wall of sound that was crafted that emulates the influences listed above. You’ll hear the very obvious synthesizer injection from LCD Soundsystem, an almost Matt Berninger delivered vocal performance, and that classic 2000’s feel from Interpol. As lovers of all 3, Idler Wheel has taken the best parts from those groups and crafted their own unique sound that we can’t overstate how impressed we are with.
It would be near impossible to pick a favorite from the album, so we’ll leave that up to the listener, but we will say that the album opener “Your Face Tomorrow” sets the bar and tone extremely high for what you’ll be getting.
It’s filled with emotions, directly from the themes and stories that are being told. What we would like to point out though is that the album is dense, in the sense that it deserves two listens. The first listen could directly be an instrumental listen because there’s just so much going on when listening on a nice set of headphones. The second listen would be listening to the lyrics. From start to finish there’s really complex and emotional stories being processed. It’s a form of grieving from the band that just happens to sound beautiful in their form of song.
At this point, we truly don’t want to expand anymore and spoil anything for the reader. Do yourself the favor and kick your weekend off with multiple listens of Breakers, you absolutely will be overjoyed with what comes through the speakers.
We’re highly recommending and encouraging you to take a listen for yourself! For all things Idler Wheel, to listen, and to keep up with all future releases and information, please check out the following links below.
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