Review: Gutterpup – ‘Open Wide’
If you’re in the market for new music, make your latest obsession Open Wide from Port Orchard’s Gutterpup. Gutterpup falls into the general category of rock and roll, while also adding a key component to make their sound lively and fresh: from the beginning, you will notice that their vocals round out their sound. Most rockers lean towards making their voice gravely and hard. The main vocalist of Gutterpup, Jack Moriarity, meanwhile, has light youthful tendencies that can be heard throughout the whole album. Even though Gutterpup’s vocals don’t sound as rough as the average vocalist in their genre, I find that it gives them an element that separates them from the rest and defines who they are.
Although it comes in last on the track list, “Gutterpup Theme Song” should be heard first. The Gutterpup sound is formulated in this song, so it gives you a basis of the album. The humorous lyrics should be taken lightly, because this whole song is all in high-octane and good fun.
“Open Wide” and “Run Them Through” are two songs that I admire. Both songs are what showed me that Gutterpup is a well-rounded group. Luke Pinard, Kaleb Keith, and Jack Moriarity compliment each other so effortlessly to create tracks that can be smooth and intense all at once. Both songs have such solid choruses that flow really nicely with their backing line of instrumentals. “Run Them Through” stays consistent through the first half of the song, then switches to a different beat in the latter half of the track. The switch is so seamless that I didn’t catch it the first time I listened. Not only did it add to the dynamic of the track, but to do it without a huge noticeable change is brilliant.
Most bands don’t include covers in their albums, but when Gutterpup does their version of “Return of the Rat” by The Wipers, it fits their sound to a tee. Most of the original song is present, but they definitely add some modern vibes to revamp a classic.
‘High-energy’ is the best way to describe Gutterpup. If you are looking for the latest music that will make you headbang and jump around, give Open Wide a listen and you surely won’t be able to sit still.
(Open Wide is available digitally and on limited-edition CD via jeck.bandcamp.com/album/open-wide. Stream “Gutterpup Theme Song” below via SoundCloud.)
