Review: Wellness – Replace, Rewire

Oct 28, 2009 by David Couch

Album: Wellness
Artist: Replace, Rewire
Release Date: July, 2009

One should absorb the colour of life, but one should never remember its details. Details are always vulgar”

The details will always get in the way, a sad fact of life that must always be observed and then duly ignored when the context is sound. Wellness’s album Replace, Rewire is an instinctive album that has no time for trivia. At just under a half-hour the album is the perfect length, you have a chance to relflect on the whole album while the songs are still fresh in your mind. The songs do the job without overindulging the rock attitudes keeping the songs un-polluted and straight to the point. It’s a brand of melancholy rock; using the ambiance to achieve the effect that your listening to a maturer record that maintains a low-fi gritty integrity.

If you like slow-moving, alternative-style, noise rock then you will like Wellness, However the songs that should be hits fail to pack that long lasting punch. There’s no rallying cry that will have you swear allegiance on first listen, simply songs that will over time gather a murmured acquiesce.

The Title track “Replace, Rewire” picks up the tempo with a harder and faster beat, and a good arrangement that makes it one of my favourites on the album. Along with the opening track “The Power Of A Magnetic Heart” which has some surprisingly beautiful moments. Once again though the songs lead you to that perfect place and leave you hanging. The songs build and build but offer no release; no break in the rhythm for the emotion, which the songs have crafted perfectly, to escape.

The mix on this album isn’t quite ready, ending up with something somewhat half-baked but it does have the ingredients to make this a prominent player in your music collection.

~DC~