Ipswich's Basement had accustomed us to a completely different pace, when between 2011 and 2018 they released four albums, practically one every two years. So much so that we thought they had retreated; after all, this is what happens to many independent cults that never really explode.
And yet here they are, returning after eight years, with what will most likely be remembered as their best album. Because, in this “Wired”, the most American band in the United Kingdom has managed to convey its mix of grunge guitars, post-hardcore explosions and emo outbursts worthy of Sunny Day Real Estate in the catchiest and most exciting collection of songs they have ever managed.
It's easy to get caught up in enthusiasm and say it too loudly, but among these twelve new songs, all heart-in-mouth and guitars, there are at least four pieces that, had they been released at the right time, let's say fifteen years ago, we would still be singing in packed sports halls. But also a couple of ballad formidable and some decent mosh pits.
With their very quick choruses, so quick that it seems like you already know them, and their vigorous guitars, “Time Waster”, “Wired” and “Satisfy” sound like classics to listen to with the windows open, speeding towards a holiday escaping from the provinces.
The disconsolate fatalism of vocalist Andrew Fisher finds the form of an inspirational ballad in “Broken By Design”. midwestern emo. But “Wired” is a record of moods that change with the wind, so, a song after, the overexcited “Pick Up The Pieces”, we are already picking up the pieces among the screaming guitars.
The double “Embrace”/“Sever” follows the same pattern, with the first song flooding us with nineties nostalgia and the second shaking us with a telluric rhythm section.
It is not known whether this unexpected return of the Suffolk five-man formation will swell their following, which would be all well and good. What is certain is that their most loyal fans, who have never stopped hoping for new music, now hear the best the band has ever made.
07/16/2026
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
