Water Machine are working their way into your psyche slowly but surely. So far they have completed various small steps on their journey to world domination, gigging their little hearts out and in doing so building a roots up solid base of fans in their home city of Glasgow. Then releasing the now sold out (too slow losers) S/T Demo Tape, featuring live favourites Water Machine, I Quit, Flowers and the song which drew me in to the music of the band in the first place, Hot Real Estate, to great acclaim, and following this up with the superb vinyl EP, Raw Liquid Power (more of which shortly). Jimmy (guitars), Flore (bass), Nicky (drums) and Hando (vocals, synth, violin) have now spread their wings and have recently returned from their debut tour across the border, converting the previously soulless and unacquainted to a life of hydration, picking up plaudits all the while, everywhere they played, and of course they have infiltrated the airwaves now too, having played a killer live session on BBC6 on the Marc Riley show.
Riley & Coe – Water Machine live in session – BBC Sounds
The band are now (hopefully) ensconced in a studio laying down the tracks for their debut album. They better fucking be or there will be hell to pay! In the meantime, you can keep your soul hydrated and satisfy yourselves with the four aural treats on the Raw Liquid Power EP, the metaphorical musical equivalent of the water of life.
If you’ve haven’t heard the whole EP, you might be familiar with the lead track, Water Machine Pt. II, one of the leaders of the pack for this year’s song of the year. If you haven’t been fortunate to hear it yet, then now is your chance. This is your opportunity to once and for all satiate yourself. Water is indeed the best thing for you, the chiming jangly post punk guitars soundtracking Hando’s effusive vocal, Flore’s harmonies combining in a blissful union. Look deeper into the vocals, and this song is all about never achieving that self-actualisation and where you want to be, because your basic needs haven’t been met. That’s enough psychology, thanks Mr Maslow…
The other three songs on the EP, are also tried and tested Water Machine live favourites, spiky angular post punk guitars introduce Stilettos and despite Hando’s protestation that the song is about being followed home by a cat, I’d wager that if you dig deeper into the lyrics, there is much more to it than that. Hando’s empathetic vocal is once again complemented by Flore’s harmonies, while Jimmy’s guitar sings and soars, and my passion for cowbells is more than catered for.
Track three is the dynamic At the Drive In, a complex song of many parts, the staccato style intro, repeated throughout, has vocal, drums, guitar and bass all combining in perfect unison, laying down the blueprint, with Hando questioning a relationship with what feels like an end-of-their-tether exasperation, before the outro of the song has the band once again in unison; sonorous ringing guitars, Hando and Flore’s vocals combining in what feels like a unified collective conscience, before the drums start to slow and fade, and the guitars chime and evaporate leaving Hando and Flore to close out the song in perfect harmony. “Nailed It, that was perfect” says Hando with glee as the song fades out, it’s hard to disagree.
The EP ends with Bussy, just over 60 seconds of punk infused ire aimed at, well the song title may give it away… buses, “that’s why I’m not on time” rants Hando over an adrenaline fuelled soundtrack, though me being me, I like to overanalyse, and just maybe one of the lines runs deeper, and maybe the bus is just the straw that breaks the camel’s back…”I’ve had it up to here with the things that they say, because they’re always fucking lying to you…”. Whatever, the song is a more than welcome blast of incandescent energy.
No gigs for a while as the band are recording their debut album, I’m expecting an instant classic… no pressure. Currently the next date for your diaries is the 6th of November in The Hug and Pint, where the band play with Snooper and Hotline TNT.
Water Machine with Snooper & Hotline TNT in Hug and Pint on the 6th November