Reviewing Sohns: "Undrowned and Warded Out"

Sohns - "To Ward it Off and Drown it Out"
Review by James Woodard
photo courtesy of Josh Huskin

Anyone interested in the San Antonio music scene should be intimately acquainted with Sohns by now. They have dominated the heavy music scene here for at least two years. They have hit the road and proved themselves to be one of the best heavy bands in Texas, if not the entire region. And now that their debut full-length CD, "To Ward it Off and Drown it Out", has dropped, their dark cloud of rock and roll domination is sure to spread farther over the land.

Starting from the first few seconds into opening track "Let's Start a Cult", the album wastes no time in sonically assaulting you. Lawrence Mercado's drumming patterns build a tight framework for bassist Wes Dunn's angular, distorted lines, guitarist Marcos Garza's noisier, off the wall guitar attack, and vocalist Guillermo Mendez's piercing, schizophrenic howls and screams. The battery doesn't let up until a cool down period in the second song, "Pieces and Pieces and...", but this brief break only lasts a solid 40 seconds.

"Battlorches" begins with a fade-in, and kicks into gear full force, with Garza flexing some of his more bluesy and (not too) melodic guitar muscles. The trading off of vocal duties between Mendez and Garza in one of the verses is incredibly effective also, and is only utilized twice on the entire record, which makes me wish they took this approach more often.

Mid-record, the anthemic crowd pleaser "New Reasons" kicks in, giving listeners something to scream along to. One of the highlights of the record (and their live show), this track ramps up from the percussion and sing-along intro into a full-force rock and roll assault. Contrastingly, "Old Reasons" is a song you will probably never hear live, and gives the audience a much different perspective of the band. It is a cinematic, slow build; which, contrasted with the rest of the album, is quite an effective break from the unrelenting nature of the rest of the record.

This calm doesn't last forever, however, because the next track, "A Place Called Worship", once again, hits the ground running. "Holy Mouth", the album's standout track (critic's pick here, folks), is probably the darkest track on the album. Dunn's angular bass strategy really shines here, in the many rests and time signature changes. Equally effective is when the bottom drops out, and once again Garza and Mendez trade lyrical lines, "Do you wanna see the devil?" "Yeah i wanna see the devil!".

The record ends with "In Six Years..." which is sort of a misleading title, seeing that this is the oldest song on the record. OG Sohns fans will know this song by heart, and is a fitting coda for the record, because it is not only an old, time-tested track, but is also the archetypal Sohns track; unrelenting, pounding post-hardcore rhythms with maniacal vocals and intense, in-your face energy.

Sadly, shortly after finishing the album, guitarist Marcos Garza parted ways with the group, and has recently joined forces with Brother/Ghost alumni to create a new Austin-based project, God Townes. It will be interesting to see how Sohns holds up without one of it's key songwriters, but if I had to wager, I'd bet in the long run, San Antonio gets two amazing bands instead of one. Nevertheless, "To Ward it Off and Drown it Out" by Sohns is probably the best heavy record to ever come out of San Antonio, TX. Ever. Gauntlet thrown.

I'd give this album, on a scale of one to ten, a rating of a kitten purring on your lap, a Sega Genesis with six-button controller, and five large pepperoni pizzas with a 3-liter Pepsi.

Wednesday, April 27th: The Choices We Must Choosing

There comes a time in every party animal's short, drunken life when s/he must make a very important, potentially life changing , decision. I'm not talking about stressing over what shoes you're going to wear out to the club tonight, because... let's face it...who fucking cares? Screw your shoes. You dance better barefoot anyways. Plus, not enough crazy mother fuckers in San Antonio are showing up to clubs and house shows missing random articles of clothing. Shoes are overrated. A lot of indigenous peoples go sans foot wear and they kill lions and shit with spears. You're not that cool and you never will be... so, get over it. Wear fucking grocery bags on your feet for all anyone else cares. At least then you'll be doing something for the environment through recycling.


No. I'm talking about when two totally awesome events happen to coincide and you can't decide which one to go to. You think about it all week and the day of the two events arrives and you're plucking your eyelashes in anticipation. On one hand you could go to this one show at Salute and dance your butt right into someone's face.


Wednesday, April 27:
Locals Wunderland and Sex Bomb Baby are opening for White Fang (PDX) and it threatens to be the sassiest dance party on the strip this year. The show is only three bones but the bar's drinks are notoriously overpriced and under poured. So, it's probably a good idea to "pre-game" with some friends in the parking lot.

Also, Salute is a very small venue and the staff have been known to be less than friendly to the younger crowd. I actually have heard stories of people (over 21) being ejected for "NOT" drinking. Apparently you can't stand around and enjoy the music if you do not plan on buying any alcohol.

All of this aside Wunderland is a blast to watch live even when they seem a bit sloppy (which admittedly is pretty often). But you know these two girls are having way more fun than anyone else at the show and it kind of makes you want to take your shoes off and throw them at snobby old bartenders who charge too much for watered down booze.

Overall I would say this is going to be a pretty good time for anyone who likes to have fun and enjoys sloppy, loud, drunk teenagers beating the shit out of electronics.

OR...

If the scene at Salute is a little too, hmmm... how do you say? Le Femme Nikita for your liking. Then you can walk your barefooted, macho ass across the street to Limelight for Monsters for Peace.

Also Wednesday, April 27:
DJ's Adolfo, Sergio and Loy will be spinning the heavier side of vinyl from the last forty years. Ecclectic, Metal, Punk, Classic Rock all these genres are thoroughly represented here every Wednesday and with no cover charge plus really great drink prices it's hard not to stop in and at least check out some rare and some popular hard hitting music. No one else is really doing this right now and it's a god damned shame.

We know Limelight is a bit of a "hipster black hole" and maybe some of you personally boycott it because...if you see another dude with tight pants wearing a scarf and a fedora cut in front of you in the line for drinks...then you're never going back there again. Or maybe it's because... that girl in the mildly offensive indian head dress and pretentious looking sweater vest just called me a pussy for not fighting a crack head over some spilled Lonestar. Whatever the reason you have decided never to step foot into the "Slimelight" again... SAVE IT. Wednesday's are cool again and evil as fuck. Satan himself would be there if he wasn't already going to be picking up sloppy drunk chicks at the White Fang show.