"Real punk from America's cruelest town. Hatched in 2017 via an assemblage of FLESH WORLD, MALLARD and BLANK SQUARE personnel, WARP’s from-the-hip attack immediately streamlined The Bay’s skulls, prompting sudsy devotion across spiked and freaked schools alike, a vibrant punk band operating amidst all the scooter-share inhumanity. The damage spills from the central screaming dual-guitar tangle, a riff tract neighboring the elegantly bruised and dynamic AGNEW / BAIZA axis, exerting too much power for the troposphere. Rhythms twist and barrel depending on need, always leaping forward, propelling each taut composition into realms unthinkable from count-off. Tika’s smarm-centric vocal steering — wonderfully absurdist and unreservedly pissed — offers exactly the sort of punky exfoliation so very needed in these days of constant cringe." — Mitch Cardwell Thrilling Living quite gleefully presents “Traffic Control” to an ill-prepared populace. Limited to 400 copies on black vinyl, housed in full color sleeves with a double-sided Risographed insert. Our take: Debut vinyl from this Bay Area punk band. Warp plays music that’s right in my sweet spot, with all the catchiness of a classic punk band, the energy of a great hardcore band, and the complexity of something you could label “post-” something or another. Maybe I’m flattering myself since I play guitar in the band, but Warp reminds me of Sorry State’s own No Love, particularly on tracks like “Sheet Cake” and “Makeup,” which are both catchy but tough-sounding rather than melodic. That being said, they throw some unexpected ingredients in to the mix like the staccato anarcho rhythms on the title track and the swirling, psychedelic double-tracked guitars on the climactic closer “Goat.” The lyrics are also brilliant, surreal yet thought-provoking. The lyrics to “Traffic Control,” “Cellophane,” and “Sheet Cake” are worth the price of admission alone. For instance, here’s the full lyric for “Cellophane:” “Stick of butter, butterball. Throw a brick of butter, butter on the wall. Broken bucket with a big ol hole. Don’t bet on a bucket that’ll never get full. Sorry, baby, he’s silver cellophane.” I used to teach a college-level introduction to poetry course, and I could have spent an entire class period on that one. I doubt you’re surprised Thrilling Living has put out another record I Love, but I’ll confirm this one’s a keeper.
