Warish – ‘Next To Pay’ [Album Review]

Straight out of the garages and skateparks of San Diego, garage punks Warish is the sound of three friends digging through their well-worn vinyl collections to produce an album that is pure dirt. Featuring pro-skater and son of the legendary skater Tony Hawk, Warish frontman Riley Hawk is already being likened to some iconic names while one blast of their new album, Next To Pay, and you will discover a record rooted comfortably alongside the vast array of releases that have inspired Hawk and his mates.

And when I say likened to some iconic artists, we’re talking the Kurt Cobain’s and James Hetfield’s of this world and while Next To Pay is probably thirty years too late to be held as a game-changer, you only have to listen to their raw, punkish sound to hear why it’s being mentioned in the same breath as albums like Nirvana’s classic Bleach or Metallica’s face-ripping debut Kill ’Em All. A full-throttle lesson in proper punk rock, this throaty, aggro-fuelled album is a thirteen-track dirtfest. Laying out their hand as early on as the opening title track, Warish batter through the likes of “Another No One” and “S.H.M (Second Hand Misery)” with the kind of unbridled rage and ferocity that is sadly devoid in a lot of today’s modern music.

Jabbed into the middle of this thirteen-track effort is Warish’s vicious tribute to Dischord Records punk rockers Gray Matter in the form of “Burn No Bridges.” This greased-up, Motörhead-tinged sonic assault epitomizes what Warish and Next To Pay are all about. When asked to describe this album, Hawk explains Next To Pay “is about a sense of imminent doom.” Perfectly summed up by Hawk in one short, sharp sentence, this forty-minute affair is a grubby insight into the collective minds and record collections of Hawk and his brethren.

Ugly music for ugly times, Next To Pay is what happens when you let three frustrated, angry young men loose in a stinking garage with battered instruments and an equally battered record collection then press record.

Next To Pay Track Listing:

1. Next to Pay
2. Another No One
3. S.H.M. (Second Hand Misery)
4. Burn No Bridges
5. Say to Please
6. Seeing Red
7. Destroyer
8. Woven
9. Scars
10. Ordinary
11. Superstar
12. Make the Escape
13. Fear and Pride

Run Time: 39:07
Release Dates: April 30, 2021
Record Label: RidingEasy