zombie attack!

It's a shame that people have had to wait for Fun with Wizard Stencils because quite frankly it's brilliant. EP opener "Bad Company In A Sauna" mixes Wintermute's formula of powerful jerky chords while a delicate melody is played over the top, all with unpredictable drums and wonderfully unusual vocals, on the verge of screaming one minute and fragile the next. My highlight of the album "Dead Or Not He Was Wearing Sunglasses" only clicked for me after I saw Wintermute's Channel M Session (below). It was a nice enough song already but by seeing them perform it you can get a feel of the energy Wintermute have and just how brilliant Dan's erratic vocals are, leaving me with a profound love and understanding of Wintermute.

While their debut 7" "Gambling Or Playing Cards?" had a similar style of music it's clear to see that Wintermute have grown more and more confident in their music and are pushing their own boundaries to create more experimental songs too. "I Abandoned My Boy (Hello Nuts)" is more sedate than most of the EP, relying on the guitar melody to hold the listener's interest which it does very well. Closing track "Jambon! Jambon!" (seen below in the Channel M Session) sums up thye rest of the EP well, combining shouty bursts of guitars and vocals with a Youthmovies style guitar melody and again it works better live accompanied by unpredictable vocals and energetic delivery accompanying something that is as close to a solo as Wintermute get.

Wintermute have added a jerky, almost punk-like, formula to their existing "Math Rock" tag they've gained, which is understandable because they have intricate fretwork on a lot of their songs similarly to Minus The Bear (who at times sound like their American counterparts with a keyboard) or perhaps the jerky feel of Tired Irie if they replaced their electronics with chords. It may take time to get interested in for some people but trust me, it's well worth it in the end.

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