Review
Wrong Day to Quit
Vicissitudes

Exotic Fever (2006) Cory

Wrong Day to Quit – Vicissitudes cover artwork
Wrong Day to Quit – Vicissitudes — Exotic Fever, 2006

It's a fact of life that hardcore bands, especially those involved with the late 90's screamo era, love to break up. They play a tour or so, leave us without about an hour worth of music, and then they're done. School, jobs, and families understandably take priority, and the band ceases to be. But the great thing about this scene though, is that it seems like every time a band splits up, a different one will begin with different members. Hot Cross came after Saetia. Ampere has members from Orchid. And now, among many other bands, Wrong Day to Quit rises from the ashes from great but short-lived bands like The Assistant and This Ship Will Sink. And with jams like these, maybe breaking up isn't such a bad thing.

Much like bands like Reds and Welcome the Plague Year, Wrong Day to Quit is one of those internet buzz bands that gets everyone excited when word hits who's in the band and songs have been released. And just like Reds and Welcome the Plague Year, Wrong Day to Quit is in no way disappointing. After releasing various demos, Vicissitudes is the bands full-length debut, which is more or less a guidebook on how to play passionate, true, positive melodic hardcore - I beg of you, please read up on Vicissitudes.

The main vocal duties of Wrong Day to Quit fall on the shoulders of Leigh, who you may remember as one of the vocalists from The Assistant. Vicissitudes literally means able to change, and this is a pretty accurate of Leigh's vocal style. One minute she can be singing some of the most beautiful, melodic notes ever to grace the ears of the punk community, and the next minute she will let out one of the most guttural growls I have ever heard from a singer, male or female. Leigh's vocals are complemented well with the frantic singing of the other members of the band, as each member adds their part to the song vocally. Musically, the slow and melodic drumming complements the vocals very well, and the bass and guitars can be very pummeling at moments of chaos, and then can come off very atmospheric during slower and more deliberate parts of the songs.

Besides making amazing hardcore, Wrong Day to Quit is a very personal band, with the booklet explaining what the song means to each member of the group. The explanations are very stripped and hold nothing back, no matter how personal the subject matter may be. From something as simple as the freedom felt from doing yoga to the very sad and personal battles a family member goes though battling schizophrenia, Wrong Day to Quit immerses you into their world. Like I said, this is a guidebook on how to play amazing, melodic hardcore. Read it, I promise you won't put it down.

8.4 / 10Cory • September 11, 2006

Wrong Day to Quit – Vicissitudes cover artwork
Wrong Day to Quit – Vicissitudes — Exotic Fever, 2006

Recently-posted album reviews

Økse

Økse
Backwoodz Recordz (2024)

Økse is a gathering of brilliant, creative minds. The project's roster is pristine, with avant-jazz phenoms Mette Rasmussen on saxophone, Savannah Harris on drums, and Petter Eldh on bass/synths/samplers joining electronic artist and multidisciplinery extraordinaire Val Jeanty (of the fantastic Turning Jewels Into Water project.) The result is a multi-faceted work that stands on top of multiple sonic pillars, as … Read more

Final

What We Don't See
Room40 (2024)

Justin K. Broadrick's prolific output keeps giving, and may it never stop! The latest release is one of Broadrick's earliest projects, Final, which started in the power electronics tradition but since its resurrection in the early '90s, it is solidly standing in the ambient realm. Final's new full-length What We Don't See continues on the same trajectory, relishing drone's minimalistic … Read more

Bambies

Snotty Angels
Spaghetty Town Records, Wanda Records (2024)

The digital files I’ve been listening to as I write this review are all tagged to begin with the band name, e.g. “Bambies Teenage Night,” “Bambies Love Bite,” etc. It seems like a fitting metaphor. The Bambies play the kind of Ramones-adjacent garage-punk that’s often self-referential and in on their own joke. The Bambies play leather jacket-clad, straight-forward punky songs … Read more