Rockets on Wire

I Am Not Your Home (2012)

John Flynn

Rockets on Wire, hailing from Amityville, NY, came out of nowhere with this masterful debut full-length. The band have a fantastic sense of flow, crafting an album where each song stands on its own, but where everything also comes together as a sonically cohesive whole. The spare album art perfectly suits the rather dark indie rock that's contained within.

The record kicks off with the short "Wake," featuring the haunting vocals of singer Marie Mayes and a guitar, adding drums and a chorus of backing vocals as the intensity grows before fading into guitar feedback leading to the quick-paced, rocking "Fall." (which you may have heard on the Punknews Podcast!) Here we begin to hear more of what Marie is capable of, with some grit working its way into her vocals in the chorus, and this will come back in a big way later in the record with huge payoffs. Perhaps most notably on the "Rose," where Mayes bitterly rasps "I am wishing myself into car accidents/And I keep praying to god that I'll break my fucking limbs."

Of course, there's much more to this record than the vocals. The guitars powerfully drive the uptempo rockers like the aforementioned "Fall" and "Wedding Song," swirling in and out to provide bombast to songs like "Repast."

Speaking of "Repast" and "Wedding Song," these two may provide the best musical 1-2 punch of the year, building from the vocal solo opening the former, to the tortured screams of "You didn't think at all!" that close out the latter's howling, harrowing ode to failed romance.

Rockets on Wire have crafted nine beautiful, devastating indie-with-a-tinge-of-punk songs. The emotions conveyed by Marie's varied vocals are perfectly matched by the music throughout; the band know when to back off and let the quiet speak for itself, and when to kick in with crashing guitars and powerful drums. This is definitely a band to watch.

You can stream the record here.