New Band of the Week: WYRES

Manchester band WYRES aim to transport you back to 2004 with an infectious and nostalgic punk rock sound that they describe as “serious MySpace vibes” and”melodic, sincere and no-nonsense.”

The band has its roots in a fantastic British band called Failsafe – whose album The Truth Is remains one of this writer’s favourite go-to records and appeared in The Inbetweeners The Gig And The Girlfriend episode. It’s formed of former Failsafe members Andy Sprake (lead vocals and guitar), Rob Catlow (drums and vocals) and Scott Bampton (bass), who took a bunch of unused ideas from the band into the WYRES project along with guitarist Lewis.

The current lineup first got together in early 2020, which means their timing couldn’t have been worse as they immediately went into one of the UK’s longest and strictest lockdowns in Manchester. During that time, they shared ideas via WhatsApp then jumped into rehearsals or recording studios whenever there was a break in lockdowns. It took two years for them to finally play their first live gigs, by which time they’d already gone through two singers so they decided to handle it between themselves.

On the sound they’ve crafted as WYRES, Scott told us: “We always describe our sound as ‘nothing new’ – we lean heavily into the nostalgic angle as most of us have been around the block a few times! We jokingly pretend we still think it’s 2004 on our social posts, but that’s because our music sounds a bit like that.

“It’s got the melodic element of pop punk from that era without sounding like what pop punk has become – it just wouldn’t work if we were trying to throw in more modern sounds that YUNGBLUD or Nova Twins are doing. It’s more like ‘what if you could go back in time to 2004?’ What would you write for your 2004 self and your mates with the benefit of age, experience, and having seen what your favourite bands did for the next 20 years?”

We chatted to the band just after the release of their superb single Salt Of The Earth, which was released in July and is about their former Failsafe frontman, Matthew Cogley. The track opens up with building atmospheric instrumentals that continue under engaging vocals, a big drum roll ushers in a driving riff and feeds into more engaging vocals. That builds up to the chorus “If all this time was wasted, Let’s waste it all again, When something is lost is something you’ve found it’s a reason enough to mend, And nothing that’s golden is faded, It walks with you through the cold, But sooner or later you’ll ask yourself where does the time go.”

A more intense verse feeds into another chorus of multiple vocals, which continues into a mini guitar solo. The pace drops before blasting into a lively outro with repeats of “Where you are lost is where you’ll be found.”

On the track, Scott told us: “Salt of the Earth has been received so well – we can’t really believe it! It’s about Matthew Cogley, who was also in Failsafe – he sadly passed away a few years ago. So it makes sense that a lot of our close friends really got on board with the song, helping us share the message. But it’s also gone down really well in places like Sweden, the USA, and especially Germany – it’s had more streams from each of those countries than it has from the UK, which is crazy. In terms of sound, if you dig bands like Beatsteaks, it might well be up your alley. Maybe that’s why German listeners seemed to really like it!” Check the track out in the video here:

That track gave us a good taster for WYRES’ debut album Nothing Like Your Idols, which was released last month. Ahead of its release, Scott explained: “It’s incredible to have the album finally coming out. There are songs on there that we jammed in that first practice together back in early 2020 and the album has since had different members contribute in different ways to it over the course of three years. It’s the first album any of us have put out in any band since 2012, and for a couple of us, it’s our first album ever.

“Given we’re not all exactly spring chickens, the album is a bit of a testament to perseverance – pandemics, line-up changes, mental health, physical health… all have threatened to derail the writing and recording process at various stages. On the flip side, it’s ended up quite a diverse piece of work, which ebbs and flows, rather than just trying to punch you in the face for 11 songs. It sort of reflects the journey of the band, which is a cool result. There are more delicate and considered songs on there, and others that are just pure punk rock fury.”

The album starts off strong with the title track, which sees lively guitars supporting deliciously catchy raspy vocals. That’s followed by New Revolutions, which opens up with a cool little riff and builds up to big layered vocals through the chorus. A big scream after the second chorus gives way to chunky guitar chords, which drop into light vocals then driving guitar chords set up a big final blast of the chorus. Check it out here:

The strong start to the album continues with a personal favourite Let Me Go and the excellent Polemicist. And there’s so much more to come, including the catchy Wilfully Ignorant, the more anthemic This Isn’t Love and Follow You, the classic Failsafe-sounding Look Alive and lively final track The Less They Dream.

Going into detail about the album’s recording process, Scott told us: “The demoing process was pretty simple as Rob is training as a sound engineer and Lewis is a live engineer and joined us part way through the recording. So we’ve been lucky enough to keep a large chunk of the pre-production in-house. That meant we could take what we had to a producer and friend of ours called Sam Cook, who helped us bring it to life in his studio. We did drums and bass live with him, which we think has helped to capture some of the energy we put into our live shows and also kept the groove feeling natural. Then guitars, vocals, and other layers got added over time.

“Sam’s based in Lincoln, which can be up to a three-hour drive when traffic’s bad, so we had to be fairly well-drilled – we didn’t have the luxury of messing about once we got over there, although we did still have chance to experiment with some new ideas and sounds. Most of the challenges were just that – challenges. It never really felt like anything could really stop us. We’d already weathered as many storms as a new band could, so it was just about remaining focused and getting the end result how we wanted it.

The WYRES sound is heavily influenced by American bands like Rise Against, Thrice and Hot Water Music along with acts closer to home like Hundred Reasons, Hell is for Heroes and My Vitriol. They also lean on bands like Beatsteaks and Foo Fighters for their love of big choruses.

And on what inspires them to write music, Scott says: “It’s definitely more accomplished and mature than what we used to write 20 years ago. We’re not afraid to chuck in weird time signatures with grimey distorted bass on one song, and then go full ballad the next. Andy writes the vast majority of the lyrics and he tends to tackle really big subjects – homelessness, radicalisation, hypocrisy, loss, addiction etc… He takes inspiration from a lot of the issues he sees affecting those around him, both in his peer group and in society. I wrote the lyrics for one song on the album, which is the total opposite – a very personal experience with mental health issues. But I think they all follow a similar theme in trying to figure the world out and how we experience it – whether that’s focused on the external or the internal.”

WYRES debut album Nothing Like Your Idols is out now. The band have a run of dates across the UK and are keen to get out to Europe next year, potentially around February and/or for the summer festivals.

You can follow WYRES on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and YouTube.