Music Review: Broken Water, Wrought

By Tyler Hodg

Music is constantly evolving and yet at certain moments, it stands completely still. With their latest full-length album Wrought, Washington punk-rock band Broken Water continues to display their musical influences in their own music, creating a nostalgic-sounding record that will remind many listeners of their angst-filled teenage years. Wrought is totally grunge-tastic and is a blatant throwback to a sound that seems to have gotten lost in recent time.

Although the album doesn’t have the best sound quality, it still achieves exactly what it needs to: it’s an immersive experience that grips you tight. The fact that Steve Fisk (Nirvana, Soundgarden) recorded and mixed the record probably has something to do with its allure, but that’s not to take away from Broken Water’s songwriting. Their slow and sludgy side is showcased in songs like “1984” and “Close,” while “High-Lo” and “Choice” speed things up a bit. Wrought has a cohesive musical theme that binds the songs together but is diverse enough to never get repetitive.

One knock, if you consider it one, can be attributed to the vocal style of bassist and sometimes lead singer Abigail Ingram. The lazy voice she exerts comes off as boring and unenthusiastic from time to time, but in a way, it fits the music. The songs have a certain hypnotic feel that puts the listener into an unexplainable trance, and Ingram’s voice is a major factor in that. However, if you’re not fully immersed in the tracks, the vocal style of Ingram may become more of an annoyance than anything else.

Additionally, at first glance the album’s cover art is messy and incomprehensible, but when looked at more closely, a higher level of sophistication is revealed. Transparent images of cats, flowers, humans, and a piano are brilliantly placed around one another, giving off a ghostly, yet illuminating, feel. The final song “Beach” is a fitting accompaniment to the cover and sums up the image in the most perfect way—the 12-minute track is as atmospheric as the artwork, which is a tough feat pulled off beautifully.

Broken Water’s Wrought is the type of album that makes you crave the live experience; as great as they are on the record, the songs are seemingly screaming for the stage. The fuzzy guitars and warm sound of the band could easily be translated live and may possibly even surpass the recorded versions. Regardless of how it’s listened to, Wrought is a home run and deserves the same attention today that music of this genre received in the ‘90s.

Wrought was released on March 24 by Night People Records.