Music / Premieres
Premiere:
Mister Strange - Without a Warning
Words by James Lynch
Tuesday 25th August, 2020
Marking the first international release from Sydney rock ’n’ roll purveyors Third Eye Stimuli, we’ve got the pleasure of premiering the debut single from Manchester garage-psych hotheads Mister Strange today - ‘Without a Warning’ is a thrilling introduction to the self-described “wunder-fuzz” outfit, that sounds as explosive as its title suggest.
Following some amp noise and four humble clicks, ‘Without a Warning’ instantly bursts open and races away, swamping us in a barrage of fuzzed-out chords while a rocketing rhythm section thunders along underneath. Pummelling from the get-go, it makes sense that band-leader Tomas Walmsley (also of Manchester group Fruit Tones) is seated behind the drum-kit, the frantic urgency in his vocals only matched by the reckless propulsion of the track’s backbone.

As the grooves spiral and stack up, there’s a thrilling sense of controlled chaos to ‘Without a Warning’, the instruments piling on around Tomas’ wiry voice as it slinks through the sprawl. Though the track does break up momentarily, it’s barely a chance for respite - instead, the gap is immediately filled by a fiery guitar solo that just reignites Mister Strange’s furious energy, before ‘Without a Warning’ races to its finish line.

Explaining the track’s relentless pulse and nervy undertones, the band share “the skeleton of this track came from a hurried live session in which us and recording engineer Dale Charlton holed up in our beloved basement ‘The Humid’ in the hours we knew we had before lockdown would mean the place would have to be boarded up. ‘Without a Warning’ came from a time when we all knew we’d have to focus on avoiding life’s frustrations. A time when we’d need to construct a positive environment for ourselves to exist in so we could escape from the inner demons constantly nipping at our heels and appearing without warning."

'Without a Warning' is out officially tomorrow via Third Eye Stimuli.