Big Ups – ‘Wool’
On Sunday, 27th October, the world lost one of the most creative and influential musicians. Lou Reed was a founding member of The Velvet Underground, a band that changed people’s perceptions of what music should sound like and pushed the boundaries of the time. As we know, he went on to enjoy a hugely successful solo career that spanned almost 40 years, continually trying new things and influencing generations of musicians to create some of the most popular music in all manner of genres and countries.
With the current feeling considered, today’s Track of the Day is from the New York-based four-piece punk outfit Big Ups with their track ‘Wool’, a song that clearly followed Reed’s innovation and experimentation and uses it to the best of their abilities.
Taken from their debut album Eighteen Hours of Static, set for release in January 2014, the band show two extremes of their musicality; starting with a dreary and almost deadpan delivered opening which then leads into a rambunctious climax.
With seemingly unconnected lyrics, the song somehow manages to paint extremely vivid imagery in the listener’s imagination. The narrative seems to focus on the isolation and desperation of the main protagonist, slowly building to the unveiling that he’s just pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes and playing on it to some degree.
“Making rounds, breaking down without a sound”.
Big Ups
It’s everything you would expect from a track within this genre. There’s the usual teenage angst and emotive lyricism that so many acts have played on before and carved a career from with relative ease. The thing that differentiates this from the crowd is how poetic and unique they’ve managed to make it. The build-up is a particular effect that highlights them as something new. A lot of bands will just wallow in self-pity throughout the entire song and not have anything defining happen. Big Ups have managed to portray how their mind works, with the surge of anger towards the end showing their inner turmoil and aggression coming to a head.
There’s a clear nod to post-hardcore heavyweights Fugazi, especially in the final instrumental surge. But there’s more going on under the hood. Scratch the surface and you’ll catch flashes of avant-garde and experimental sounds weaving through the noise. They might wear the punk badge proudly, but this track leans more into the alternative and progressive corners than they probably care to admit.
At its core, this track is exactly what music should be about—taking risks, pushing the edges, and refusing to play it safe. Experimentation isn’t something to fear; it’s the whole point. With their debut album on the horizon next year, don’t be surprised if this band starts carving out a serious space for themselves.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.