Prolific progressive pop band Wetbrain are back with their second LP in as many years, “Things You Think You Thought You Knew.”
Wetbrain are one of Asbury Park’s most underrated bands, but with the Ray Bradbury-like entitled “Things You Think You Thought You Know,” their second LP in as many years, the prolific progressive-pop band deserve to be appreciated like the phenomenal Deal Casino. The artistic, well-crafted acts share a penchant for shaping super sad songs that somehow make you want to dance, while leaving plenty of musical meat for a wallflower to munch. Having surprisingly never played together, they would make a great bill, along with Sonic Blume, who demonstrate a similar fondness for Brit rock, and The Cold Seas, another experimental miner for pop gold.
Being a huge Pink Floyd fan for more than 40 years, I most love that a third of “Things” mines much of that Brit band’s early catalog, such as “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” “A Saucerful of Secrets,” “Atom Heart Mother,” and one of my all-time favorite albums, “Meddle.” The entire middle of the 12-song LP features four great Floyd-like tracks:
“Things” is a follow-up of last fall’s EP, “¡Quebrado!,” which I unfortunately didn’t get to write much about, and the preceding debut LP, “A Certain Light,” which landed in my Top 10 list last year. Also featuring the fine guitar playing of Nick Kaelblein and drumming of Nick Aufiero, “Things” is a contender for this year’s list.
Other tracks are:
Not surprisingly, the many layers of “Things You Think You Thought You Knew” were masterfully mastered by Alan Douches of West West Side Music (Dillinger Escape Plan, Clutch), and they were produced by the band and Pat Noon, who also recorded them at Eight Sixteen and Trax East studios.
Fans of Deal Casino really should check “Things” out and see Wetbrain live, which can be done on Oct. 13 at The Saint in Asbury Park when they celebrate the release of the LP with Meier’s and Kaelbein’s former band mates in Dentist, as well as Darkwing and Sunshine Spazz. The band’s concert schedule also includes Nov. 2, EJ’s, Seaside Heights, with The Barrbarians, Baron Praxis, and Judo Chop; Nov. 15, The Pharmacy, Philadelphia, with Earth Telephone and Cavewoman, and Nov. 16, Second Annual Makin Waves Hunger Benefit for Food for Thought, Asbury Park Yacht. One of four shows over two nights that benefit the folks who annually feed the hungry and the homeless on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter at Langosta Lounge, that evening’s lineup also fittingly will feature the aforementioned Sonic Blume and The Cold Seas, who will collaborate with rapper Drew the Recluse on their new single, “Bloodstain.”
Bob Makin is the reporter for www.MyCentralJersey.com/entertainment and a former managing editor of The Aquarian Weekly, which launched this column in 1988. Contact him at [email protected]. And like Makin Waves at www.facebook.com/makinwavescolumn
