A slow burner that digs into you a bit deeper with each new listen. That is as appropriate a description for Wozniak generally as it is for their second album, Bruises. Feel free to use every shoegaze or post-rock cliché you know – the band has heard and drilled through them all.
The drumming on ‘Arts & Science’ almost takes on the role of lead instrument, pushing the song forward and pummelling the listener into themselves. ‘Icelandic Water’ is one of the most aptly titled songs of the year; refreshing, chilling and potentially fatal when it wraps itself around you, while ‘Moga Mobo’ is delightful, an interlude of elusive beauty.
The quiet-quiet-loud-quiet formula is one we are all well acquainted with, but to their credit, Wozniak keep things feeling fresh and varied on Bruises. It’s a sprawling record that moves listeners without displacing them.
Bruises was released on 27th August on Morningside Young Team Records.
