The Wanton Looks
S/T
Haughty Eyes Records/Whoa! Records
March 2012
This is a group of women that clearly grew up on hard rock radio stations. If guitarist Inga Olson’s Motorhead T-shirt in their video for “Worst Side of Me” wasn’t enough evidence of The Wanton Looks’ influences, then the wild guitar solos should give it away. Even their key changes (the drop for the chorus of “Electromagnetic Force” isn’t far removed from Nirvana’s “Drain You”) prove that they’ve been studying their heroes very carefully to generate maximum fist-pumping.
The band’s swagger is due in no small part to the drumming of Meg Thomas. She supplements singer/bassist Traci Trouble’s lyrics about deliciously bad decisions (see “86 Me”) with furious velocity on the kit. The sheer speed of her snare rolls makes it hard to believe that she could utilize her crash cymbal as much as she does. Yet, she hits every part of the kit for a full sound and if the “Electromagnetic Force” video is any indicator, she adds in a flourish to her hits for good measure.
Listen to this: When you want to put on a leather jacket, black boots, and red lipstick or generally feel like a bad ass.
— Valerie Paschall