Packing punches with pyncher’s debut EP ‘Every Town Needs a Stranger’
The Manchester band sow their seed with their first EP.
Photo: Catherine Jablonski
I invite you to listen to pyncher. The Mancunian four piece garage rock outfit who have just released their new album Every Town Needs a Stranger. If you’re looking for guttural guitar sounds and primal rhythms, then look no further. The proof is in the pudding so far for this young group — shows supporting Maruja and English Teacher and now a tour with The Wytches indicate this is a quartet on the right tracks.
There’s an undeniable energy in this collection of songs. The heavy garage riffs are constantly juxtaposed with Sam Blakely’s Marc Bolan-esque vocals. A self-described ‘oddball’ group, the lyricism often unveils gothic tales and gloomy characters, which often align with their moody instrumentation.
We’re hearing a real ‘70s glam rock punch in Back to the Country — it’s three and a half minutes of youthful arrogance and nostalgia. They pine for the old days when you could “play around with sticks and guns” — a childish naivety before adulthood rears its ugly head.
On Hippopotamus Boy, pyncher get sinister. The snaking bassline whips the listener onto a murky merry-go-round that only spins faster and faster as the chorus comes crashing through the front door.
On The Seaside has a potent Pixies whiff to it. The simple yet contagious bassline provides the railway for this evil ghost train — you can hear Paz Lenchantin’s handiwork all over this line and its effect is sinister. Once the backing vocals enter “Oh I need you more now than I ever did” it feels as if we are all sinking deeper. It’s only right that the song finishes with a final seedy bassline.
A personal favourite is Steely Dan. A haunting tale written by drummer Jack Rainbow with DEADLETTER-esque guitar lines weaving in between the surreal and desperate lyrics, which climaxes in a terrifying middle eight, with Blakely’s yowl of “what goes up must come down” compounding an ever-present feeling of impending ruination.
This riotous album is closed by a vastly different sound. The aptly named Goodbye, Old Friend is a solo acoustic guitar creep out underneath a sorrowful vocal line. It’s about the only moment of calm and quiet on a release full of power, grit and punch. The songs show the indications of a band equipped to wrestle with a headline tour, and that’s exactly what they’re in line for. Catch pyncher across the UK in November, but remember to hold onto your hats.
Every Town Needs a Stranger is out now.