The Wicked Farleys...

I’ve been meaning to throw up a few tunes from Boston’s The Wicked Farleys for quite awhile now. As with most things that I either mean to do or find myself wanting to do, they get eventually get lost in the shuffle until something jogs my memory again. That happened this weekend while I found myself listening to a hastily made MP3 disc in my car and setting it on shuffle. Eventually a tune from The Wicked Farleys popped up from their great Sustained Interest EP and that was all I needed really.

The band was formed sometime in the mid nineties and would go on to release one 7 inch, a split with Vehicle Birth, the Sustained Interest EP in 1999, and two amazing albums titled Sentinel and Enterprise in 1998 and Make it It in 2000. The bands sound could be simply described as being a beautiful mess. While that hardly does them justice, it’s not a bad description really. They could be pretty much anywhere at anytime during a song and simply just pull a complete 180 on you and turn whatever it was into a small ball of noise or something just going off in a whole other direction altogether. They were a band that really didn’t play into any one genre I guess you could say. Being part math-rock, part mid nineties indie rock, and at times lavishing in the dreaminess of bands like My Bloody Valentine it created this odd monstrosity that in a perfect world would be the most popular thing ever, however we all know that isn’t the case with bands that don’t play it by the numbers. While a description as such doesn’t exactly sound favorable on paper, it really comes together in the actual music. Somehow or another within all the warped guitar tones and oddball directions appear some great melodies and songs that eventually get played over and over again without any explanation other than it’s simply that damn catchy. For those that have never listened to this highly under appreciated and underrated band, then check out the tunes, especially if you’re into the type of atonal indie rock that was prominent during the nineties.

Sentinel and Enterprise:
The Wicked Farleys – Even Numbers [MP3]
The Wicked Farleys – 23 Red Devils [MP3]

Sustained Interest:
The Wicked Farleys – Fitchburg, MA [MP3]

Make it It:
The Wicked Farleys – Dig the Ring [MP3]
The Wicked Farleys – Opportune [MP3]

Thankfully both albums and the EP are still available on Amazon and for a pretty great price too. I can’t recommend picking these up at some point, some great stuff that shouldn’t be missed.