Starting a band is easy, but developing a career in music is a much more challenging proposition these days. Financial success seems more complex and incredibly hard to attain. Saying something new within guitar-based music might be even more strenuous because comparisons and influence are impossible to absolve from oneself; However, New Jersey group Whiner does “it all for the good times, baby,” and their latest album Peace Out Cruel World, provides no easy answers.
Whiner does more than wipe away the cobwebs that have grown exponentially since the first stay-at-home order — they take a Dirt Devil to them. Maybe it’s been my steady diet of post-punk and new wave. Or maybe it’s this cultural ultra-nostalgia moment we find ourselves stuck in, missing even the DIY venue bathroom line. Either way, Whiner’s tightly crafted formula works. The shining moments of bass, drums, synth and guitar track to track give the songs a sparer, more intentional character, allowing each instrument to shine. Across the album, hints of brit-pop and new wave are easy to pick out. Peace Out Cruel World is distinctive because of the sum of its parts.
Album opener “Sleeping Pills” comes out swinging, with glimmering guitar and catchy hooks, setting the scene for the mixed bag of tracks to come. Standout songs “Varicose Veins,” “Baseball Bat” and “Bur” all follow this exact blueprint, making it hard to not sing along and sit still while listening.
This album’s ethos and lyrics are fresh, with vocalist Cameron J. Castan wailing about, striving to create a thoughtful, romantic inspection. As he tries to reconcile his relationships, while simultaneously being obsessed with the ideas of impermanence, he reflects on loneliness and failure. Cuts from across the record hide behind over-amped guitar wails of existential horror and death fetishism. You’ll find yourself asking, “how in the hell a band can manage to make such a dance-y album with vocals crying out things such as,” “Come out to play, with a sick, sad soul like me.”
Whiner is the voice of not only the freaks of the world but the regular folk, too.
Whether you’re familiar with Whiner’s rise or this album acts as your introduction, the same first impression is one of likely admiration for a grave rock record unwilling to offer too many cuddly points of self-disclosure. So, in the moments where Whiner does reveal themselves, you may want to pay attention.
Essential Tracks: “Sleeping Pills,” “Baseball Bat” and “Burn”