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Artist Feature: Wildcard

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By Kaitlyn Monroe
Wildcards: The unsuspecting, game changer, saving you from going ass over tea kettle, that leaves you gasping for air. Ironically enough, Wildcard is the name of this weeks band feature and they live up to their high standard name. The three piece hard rock band is from Macomb, Michigan, and representing the state of Detroit style pizza, and one of the great lakes is Kyle Berrens, Anthony Merz, and Tyler Johnson. This is one of your classic high school garage bands, originally founded by Kyle and Anthony in a music class aimed at letting students learn or improve at an instrument. Which, given the intricate, skilled style of the instrumentals of Wildcard, proved to be a wonderful class and we should all send their teacher a fruit basket. The bands sound is influenced by the rock geniuses such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and others of the sort. The band remains true to their garageband outbreak and have written and recorded (in their basement) several songs that are on their Youtube Channel and ReverbNation. I feel these guys are definitely a band to watch out for in the future but are still trying to find their voice.
With that being said, let's talk music. I checked out Wildcard’s Youtube channel to look for a song to review per request of the band. I listened to about half of their library and came to the conclusion that their song Distorted was the winner of this week’s episode of wheel of fortune. The song starts off with 45 seconds of instrumental and the autotuned wail of the lead singer, once the vocals kicked in, I felt like I was listening to Alice Cooper and it was great. I feel that, of the songs that I listened to of theirs, this one is the strongest of their edgy, rebellious rock style. This band is so strong in the instrumental aspect of their music, it’s so juicy, so full of life, and is something I’m looking forward too. The feeling is like Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, and Robert Plant had a soul love child and it made the music progressions for Wildcard. The instrumentals for Wildcard is spot on with their Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen vibes, however; the vocals lack in the fact that they don’t follow what the instrumentals promise. I understand an upcoming bands need for diversity and things to set them apart from the others to draw in followers but when you listen to “Iron Man”, “No More Mister Nice Guy”, “The Immigrant Song”, or “Panama”, the vocals and instrumentals walk hand-in-hand as they frolic through the fields of Rock N’ Roll. Even if you don’t know the words to the songs, you can still sing along with the guitar, and have your own little impromptu guitar solo. The common theme with the music of Wildcard is there is two separate ideas at play at all times. It’s two lovers fighting, going in different directions, wanting different things but still trying to make things work. It’s not bad, but the band definitely needs a heart-to-heart with their music, their message, and how they’d like to show them and connect the two into one.
Overall I give this band a 6/10. They are so close and almost there I can feel it, but the struggle is real ladies and gentlemen, to find your voice, learn how to use it, and what to use it for. However, if you’d like to check out their youtube channel and their song “Distorted” use the link below.
Until next week Alt Fam, this is K-Dogg signing out!

Link to Distorted

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