Wobblies - I Have Some Language

  by John Clarkson

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

Label: Mason Ring Records
Format: CD

intro

‘I Have Some Language’ is the striking debut album of The Wobblies, a gritty New York punk three piece, whose garage-influenced sound has a gilded edge. It is a powerful, but caustic blend of both n

‘I Have Some Language’ is the striking debut album of The Wobblies, a gritty New York punk three piece, whose garage-influenced sound has a gilded edge. It is a powerful, but caustic blend of both noise and melody. The vocals of the group’s lead singer and guitarist, Mike Griffin, are harsh and guttural. He spits out his lyrics with both a raw anger and also an honest sense of relish. The guitarwork is detuned, often distorted and the whole album is a glorious, gobbing cacophony of sound and energy . Alongside all their punk phlegm and aggression, The Wobblies, however, also know how to write a good tune. Not just into making noise for the sake of making a noise, there is control in their chaos, a method to their anger. Drummer Mike Hoffman and bassist Will Ostrow (who has since recording ‘I Have Some Language’ left the group and been replaced by new member Russ Alderson) make a tight and accomplished rhythm section, and like Husker Du, The Minutemen and Mission In Burma, all of whom The Wobblies share an affinity with, there is a strong underlay of harmonics and melody in even the most dissonant of the tracks that appear on this CD. Griffin is also a particulary efficient wordsmith. A master of the short word and phrase, his lyrics are clipped and jagged and he has and the ability to sum up whole lives and situations in just a few words. The title character in ‘Ma Crowe’ is an embittered old woman who “remembers everyone by their scandals” and whose hobby is “collecting improprieties”. She is, however, “never lonely but always alone” and lives in a sexually oppressed Hell. The‘Nasty Neighbour’ knows that his neighbours are scared of him and avoid him all costs and that he is “the shit stuck to your shoes/the plague upon your street”. At the same though he takes a savage, unflinching pride in knowing that he is the “unclean favor” that they hope they will never ask and in being “the spoiled flavour that stays stuck in your throat for days like a bone.” ‘50Ib Head’ meanwhile chillingly portrays a sado-masochistic relationship, while ‘Lye to Me’ describes a warped romance which has one party knowingly getting off as his partner gives him a distorted version of her history and past. This is a strong, uncompromising, intelligent record. In a genre which has become increasingly second-rate and dull, and often cliched and puerile, The Wobblies are among its few remaining innovators.

Track Listing:-