Rockin' Our Turntable: Writer

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 3, 2009 9:20PM

We literally stumbled across San Diego's Writer in a bar off the Las Vegas Strip. Their hard driving indie Amercana was an odd cross between the quirky tunefulness of earlier era Wilco and the anthemic reaching of Coldplay or U2. All in this tiny, smoky, cramped bar where there were so many bands on the bill the bartender couldn't even identify one band from the other for us. Luckily two of the band's fans in the audience schooled us and the band sent us their Blood Drops EP.

"Matthew" kicks the disc off mournfully and simply, crafting the feeling of quiet and desolate desperation before cracking open with a mournful exclamation of acceptance. The quiet moodiness is scattered by the pounding drumbeat of "Anymore" and the band's rock chops come to the fore, along with their obvious penchant for crafting songs that slowly build, slowly add more instrumentation, and depend on subtle dynamic shifts to drive the songs home. This formula comes to a head with the raucous and exultant "Don't Wake the Sun," bringing together what we can only describe as a hard rockin' twang and indie rock angularity.

They keep this drive up throughout the entire EP, and even when songs like "Start a War" diminish in volume, their presence remains expansive. Writer has mastered the neat trick of coming across a weathered and worldly while still retaining a hopeful air about even their saddest urges.