Four months before I stumbled into a venue proudly displaying the neon moniker "Hell", alt-rockers A Will Away released their debut album, Here Again. Alternative Press described it as "a glimpse into the future of a genre" and the fan reaction I saw first hand that night in "Hell" as I watched them earnestly and enthusiastically play seems to concur with that assertion.
Now, why would someone who usually leans towards the post-punk sounds of bands clad in dark leather and denim feel the need to give you the heads-up on an alt rock band whose young fans have been to multiple warp tours and held their ground in many a mosh pit? Because when the music is good it's worth sharing – and that's just true about A Will Away.
The band describes themselves as “eighties pop-rock on acid,” another aware and valid assertion. Songs like "Pay Raise," about hating your job or "Gravity" about getting close to what you want but not quite grasping it, remind me of what I loved about the pop-rock songs of the late aughts. There's a stickiness to that light-hearted guitar playing juxtaposed tightly against heavy lyrics that just doesn't come around as often as it used to, and as the band hits the pavement on tour sharing their new alt-pop trajectory with the masses, I'm hoping they bring some of that back.
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