Craig Wedren - Wand

Craig Wedren

Wand

Like a serpent wrapped around a candy cane, Craig Wedren’s slithery voice knows how to insinuate itself into pop music in sick, unsavory ways. Granted, his best-known project, Shudder To Think, turned rock hooks into theses on deconstruction. But his new album, Wand, relies on simpler songs—even if his vocals are anything but simple. Where his solo debut, 2005’s Lapland, felt sketchy, Wand is lush and nonlinear: “I Know” weds twisted, sneering poetry to fat synths and bass, and “Poolkiss,” with its contorted jangle and blossoms of distortion, sounds just like Shudder To Think. There’s still dead air begging for Wedren to fill it—preferably with stronger melodies and more lingering turns of phrase—but until his old band reform and make a comeback album, Wand is well worth waving.

Nerveland http://www.craigwedren.com

“Poolkiss”