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Weekly Volcano
January 17, 2008
I’m calling Wester Daywick a lo-fi indie rock band as they don’t wail non-stop, they don’t shriek vocally and they don’t use distortion. At the same time, they aren’t poppy or mellow. So maybe the Fray meets Keane would be the closest point of reference. Screw it, they’re a rock band.
Formed in 2005, the Portland trio of Louis Panush (guitar/vocals/harmonica), Bobby D (bass) and Trent (drums) creates luxurious textures with limited instrumentation. As in all three-piece bands, each Wester Daywick member has to contribute 100 percent. Panush is an inventive guitarist who simultaneously handles lead and rhythm duties with flawless precision. His vocals fall just below a scream for the most part, but he can actually carry a tune quite nicely. Bass lines drive the music but also act as a lead instrument, and the inventive drum kicks give the songs a punch in the face. — TE
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http://www.weeklyvolcano.com/2008-01-17/critics-choice/1702/ - Weekly Volcano
Discography
Wester Daywick (self-titled album) 2009
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Bio
Currently residing in the independent music hotbed of Portland, Oregon, all three members of Wester Daywick spent their more formative years in rural western Washington. Like a surprisingly large amount of other budding musicians in the last 25 years, Louis Panush, Trent Finlay, and Robert Denman cultivated their creative passion in the small towns of the Pacific Northwest. It was in this atmosphere that they cut their teeth on the alt-rock of the 80’s and 90’s. A love for the veracious aesthetic of bands like the Pixies, Sonic Youth, R.E.M. and Mudhoney made a huge impression that can be heard throughout Wester Daywick’s music despite their sound being very much up to date. This combination of forward-looking songwriting, while ignoring the paradigm of modern indie-rock clichés is what sets them apart from the majority of bands.
The seeds that would later sprout Wester Daywick were planted when Louis and Trent began their friendship and creative relationship in a short-lived band called The Conversation. From 2000-2002 Trent drummed and Louis sang as The Conversation played primarily around Washington State. In 2003, Trent and Louis were attending Evergreen State College in Olympia and looked to each other to better their housing situation. It was then they began to work on ideas that very quickly turned into the most intriguing and enjoyable work either had yet made. Under the moniker Sweet Lou and The Trent Foundation, their shows as a two-piece already packed a visceral punch that would only grow over time. Around late 2004, a young man named Robert began showing up to their gigs and hinting not to subtly his intent by claiming to hear phantom baselines that the drums, guitar, and vocals were in desperate need of. Robert joined the band and was rechristened Bobby D; the band then became Wester Daywick. After a year of expanding their sound with the addition of Bobby D, he became as integral a part as the founding two members, and all three moved to Portland in 2006. The last few years have seen Wester Daywick play throughout the Northwest with frequency, write and record dozens of songs, go through three additional members, and subsequently return to the three person line up that was always its creative core.
The culmination of their artistic growth thus far is the release of their self-titled record in the summer of 2009. Wester Daywick captures the chemistry and cohesion of Wester Daywick’s live show unlike anything they have recorded thus far. The album properly displays Trent’s intricate and powerful drum work, bass lines that melodically weave their way through the other instrumentation giving Bobby D an uncommon prominence for his position, Louis’ straightforward yet dynamic guitar work that never wastes a moment, and the unique soaring vocals that are unmistakably his. In a day and age where it has become increasingly difficult to say so, the sum of the parts come together to create a sound very much their own.
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