by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
The syrupy sludge of Sweet Williams is instantly identifiable and yet nearly undefinable. It’s slow, tense, heavy, and often abrasive, creating something with the dexterity of post-hardcore, the patient beauty of slowcore, and the raw tonality of noise rock, and yet all those genre tags feel somewhat off. It’s that artistic blend that becomes something else altogether that has been at the core of Thomas House’s project since he formed the band a decade ago in England. Now based in Spain, there has always been a collective approach to Sweet Williams with House as the one constant, the ragged soul of the music, scraped across the layers of distortion, feedback, and that impenetrable sludge that really defines their sound. What’s Wrong With You, due out May 28th via Gringo Records (Grey Hairs, Reciprocate, Irma Vep), finds House joined by the members of Picore (a band he also plays in) to flesh out each song, with a mix of atonal drifts, dragged-through-the-mud melodies, building motorik tension, and plenty of colossal dirge.
“Dead Singer” is the album opener and lead single, built at a glacial pacing with discordant guitars ringing at odds with one another. House’s guitar tone (something we’ve forever praised and forever will) is brilliantly dissonant, each note sticking in its own sour atmospheric space as the band dig themselves deeper. There are elements that recall bands like Lungfish and Shipping News, but Sweet Williams is its own primal kind of beast, matching a lackadaisical essence with a mounting pressure that’s always just about to snap. Together with Picore, House and co. have burrowed themselves ever closer to the crust, and what emanates if radiant, no matter how much dirt is caked on top.