Review
High Tension Wires
Welcome New Machine

Dirtnap (2011) Loren

High Tension Wires – Welcome New Machine cover artwork
High Tension Wires – Welcome New Machine — Dirtnap, 2011

Namedropping in reviews is an easy thing to do, and I’m not averse to it myself. The obvious ones for High Tension Wires come via the members’ pedigree (Riverboat Gamblers, Marked Men, The Reds, Bad Sports). I usually try to limit it to that—the other projects that members have worked in, and how it compares with said artists’ output. Still, High Tension Wires bring other bands to mind. Unforgettable, classic bands. At more than one point on Welcome New Machine, I found myself thinking about The Stooges, with maybe hints of The Buzzcocks on the other side of the spectrum. There’s definitely a more notable Marked Men and Riverboat Gamblers feel than Iggy’s namesake band, but the influences are still there.

This is the Denton, TX band’s third release, though it’s my first exposure to the band. From the first few measures of “Get Weird,” I knew this was a record worth spinning. The guitars play precisely-timed rhythm as Mike Wiebe and Mark Ryan trade vocals in a style that’s, oh, let’s say 30% aggressive, 70% melodic. I left my pie chart in my other pants, but record’s energy is in the groovy hooks and not from strain. In other words, it’s pop-structured singalong stuff, but there’s a tension that bubbles beneath the surface throughout. This isn’t bubblegum garage, but punk-inspired, carefully tempered havoc coming from people who know how to use their instruments, both in the punk sense of reckless banging away as well as in a more traditional (i.e. skilled) sense. Songs like “I’m Too Square You’re Too Round,” blend Ryan’s precise guitars with Wiebe’s vocal style in a perfect match, that goes full bore and builds a steady energy without ever breaking into chaos. The song rides a steady wave of awesome for just under two minutes, and shifts into the slightly more pop-rhythm of album closer, “The Secret of the Hydrogen Bomb,” a Riverboat Gamblers-style song complemented by a driving organ that holds down the pedal until a climatic ending, leaving the record with the same forceful energy that it started with.

This is the kind of record that, not only will get played a few times each week, it will make me dig up the band’s past catalog.

9.0 / 10Loren • June 6, 2011

High Tension Wires – Welcome New Machine cover artwork
High Tension Wires – Welcome New Machine — Dirtnap, 2011

Related features

Riverboat Gamblers

One Question Interviews • January 14, 2014

Advertisement

DCxPC 2025

Recently-posted album reviews

Detention

Dead Rock ‘N’ Rollers
Left For Dead Records (2024)

Life ain’t so easy in the detention home- Dead Boys. Emerging from the underbelly of Jersey, made up primarily of three brethren. Raised on rock and roll and sipping from the chalice of early punk rock stalwarts like Da Bruddahs from Queens, Hey Ho! and the Pistoleros of Sexual Nature screaming banshees from across from the large pond. Thus forging … Read more

Nightfreak

Nightfreak
Big Neck Records (2024)

Semi-feral punk outfit NightFreak are back with a self-titled LP filled with breakneck riffs and 70s metal bombast. The Chicago group haven’t slowed down since 2022’s Speed Trials but they have filled out. NightFreak the album is lousy with warm back beats and melodic guitars; although, hardcore vocals and tight drums still reign supreme. Album opener “Blackout” is dead serious … Read more

Death By Unga Bunga

Raw Muscle Power
Jansen Records (2025)

I’m pretty sure I became aware of Mike Krol when The Whiffs posted about playing some shows with him. Krol is a bit of an anomaly. Not only is he on Merge and collaborates with Mac Superchunk- a dream scenario imo- but he’s also been elusive of my fan boy attempts at cold dm’ing him about stuff even tho we … Read more