Welcome to The Fresh Squeeze, where every Monday and Friday, BLUNT gets down to the wire with an up-and-coming act we simply can’t get enough of.
In today’s shiny new edition, we get the juice on Adelaide emo-punk outfit Wolf & Chain, who with their latest EP, Amor Mortal, have us thrashing our heads and smearing our eyeliner like it’s 2004 all over again. With tearing riffs and gnashing drums slicked over with sharp, acidic quips that strike like lightning and bruise like punches, the band evoke the brashness and fury of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge-era My Chemical Romance and In Love And Death-era The Used. But in saying that, there’s also enough of their own spark to make Wolf & Chain sound like… Well… Wolf & Chain. Rest assured, we’ll be catching them in the pit as soon as the pits open back up.
Who’s in your band, what do they play, and what would be your non-musical superpowers?
Jack Cumes: I sing, and my superpower would be the ability to jump through different dimensions.
Harry Charles-Britton: I play bass, and my chosen superpower would be to be super rich.
Joe Butcher: I bring the seven-strings, and my super power would be fingers like three times as long so I can bring a ten-string to the party and make Jack sad with more filthy breakdowns.
Sam Gutwein: I play the drums, and my chosen superpower would be the ability to take a shit in one minute.
Luke O’Dwyer: I play guitar, and my superpower would be the ability to make great memes super quickly – actually, I can already do that. I’d probably just fly or something.
When you’re not tearing shit up on your instruments, what do you legends like to get up to?
Jack: I like to browse comic book stores, buy action figures and draw. I also love a Savers run and watching horror movies.
Harry: I’ve been enjoying indoor rock-climbing/bouldering a lot the past year or so. Also playing video games, going out for dinner, and going to shows.
Joe: Love a climb with Harry. But 10/10 playing and talking about as many games as I can. Working through my mad backlog. Don’t get me started on the games, I’ll talk your ear off. Learning how to edit video in Resolve is my other ongoing project.
Sam: I love going for drives with my girlfriend and looking at farm animals. I play a lot of video games and binge watch many TV series, too. I’m on LOST at the moment, so no spoilers please.
Luke: If I’m not playing guitar or video games, I’m usually trying to fix or put things together, or sleeping on the sofa with my fiancée and cats. I also play soccer and volleyball (badly).
What would your hometown’s landmark be?
Harry: For the Adelaide boys, we’ve probably gotta go with the Mall’s Balls in Rundle Mall. Nothing speaks to Adelaide like an abstract but endearing art feature. It’s like, “Why is this here?” But also, they’re great.
Joe: You know it’s been a good weekend when another bloke’s gotten on top of the balls somehow and is all over the news on Monday morning. Honourable mention to the Big Scotsman.
Jack: For me it’s got to be that life-sized bronze statue of some guy on Hindley Street. It creeps me out, and I also feel like it’s really seen some shit.
Luke: No one’s gonna talk about the giant pigeon?
What’s the usual first topic of conversation when you take a break at rehearsal?
Harry: Usually the latest chapter of Jack’s life. He’s always got something happening.
Joe: Peep Show references.
Jack: Me explaining my mess of a life, followed by a Peep Show reference.
Luke: Jack’s crazy situations and Peep Show references, peppered with a few Simpsons quotes.
What’s your pre-show warm-up routine?
Joe: We find somewhere, whether it’s a car park or a bathroom, and do an acoustic warmup. Coach Cannatelli was instrumental in this, and we try to do it at all of our shows. Stretching is important, too. Gotta get limber. Apart from Jack, who’s very dedicated and comes to the show ready to go, we find a corner and do each other’s makeup just before we do our warmups. It’s pretty cute.
Jack: I like to do a bunch of singing and stretching and jumping. Then I like to listen to some ‘get psyched’ music while doing my makeup and smashing a coffee. Oh! Also I sacrifice a bat and drink its blood.
Luke: Stretching/drinking/warming up/disposing of Jack’s bat corpse.
Tell us about your most memorable show, what made it so special?
Harry: Probably the last show of the Wolfstone Park tour at the start of this year at Enigma Bar.
Jack: It was such a fun run with two amazing bands, and Adelaide absolutely brought it. The energy was insane and I can remember hearing everyone sing along. I’ll definitely remember that show.
Joe: The Wrangler show of that tour also was so wholesome. All the kids rocking out on stage with everyone, and Drastic Park making the lyrics to their set family-friendly. “I’m just like yuuuuuck, I just did a poo”. That’s the clean version, in case that wasn’t clear.
Luke: That Wolfstone Park tour as a whole. This was our first real experience of life on tour.
What band would you most like to share the stage with and why?
Jack: Since I was a kid, I’ve had a list of three bands that I would love to share the stage with: Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance and Say Anything. Me and my brother are both huge fans of all of those bands, so to be up there with any of them would just be super surreal.
Harry: My Chemical Romance for sure.
Joe: Maybe Enter Shikari, actually. Those guys seem like a blast. I would have said The Dillinger Escape Plan before they broke up.
Luke: Pierce The Veil. They seem like the perfect combination of nostalgia and party.
What’s the most exciting album you’ve listened to recently?
Jack: I really loved Heartwork by The Used, I thought that album was a really cool progression for the band, and had so many different sounds and moods. I’ve always been a fan of The Used, but this album really blew me away.
Harry: Have to shout out Clay J Gladstone’s debut EP here, I’ve had it on non-stop since it dropped. The last full-length I really fell in love with was also Heartwork from The Used.
Joe: Probably Bilmuri’s EGGY POCKET. This is his tenth album in the last four years, the absolute mad lad. Just some of the nicest guitar tones on there, super clean and really heavy. And it’s filled with fun ideas. From Attack Attack! to here, Johnny Franck just knows how to make really fun, cutting-edge tunes with huge hooks.
Sam: It’s not super fresh, but Sundowning by Sleep Token is one of the more exciting albums I’ve heard in the past few years. There are moments of sheer crushing power, mixed with a certain softness that you don’t come across too often. The vocalist has a phenomenal voice and the drummer is so sick.
Luke: Yeah, The Used’s Heartwork was great. I also had a long period on Machine Gun Kelly’s Tickets To My Downfall.
If you could be endorsed by one company, who would it be?
Jack: Probably something to do with hair dye.
Harry: For music gear, it would have to be Ampeg.
Joe: D’Addario, @ me please! Ya boi is bleeding dry with all these strings over here. No lies, send help.
Sam: It is my ultimate goal to become a Tama artist some day. Their drums are the best.
Luke: Schticky. If you like the big Schticky, you’re gonna love the little Schticky.
Why are you going to make it to the top over all the other contenders in the musical arena?
Joe: I don’t know that it’s really about that for us. We’re here to make music for us – stuff we would have wanted to hear when we were growing up. We all just want to share the love of the genre with anyone who’ll listen and hang out with us for the ride.
Jack: I think we want to make music for us and the people that enjoy it. Whether it’s playing to 100 people or 100,000 people, I think so long as even one person was getting something out of it, we would keep doing it. Also, I think that there will always be a place for us at the top because we are uniquely Wolf & Chain.
Luke: We have spot on Peep Show references, and a bigger beanie and skinny jean collection than most.
Amor Mortal is out now via Community Music. Check out ‘An Unfortunate Tale Of Two Lovers And An Insatiable Taste For Poison’ below, then click here to stream the full EP.
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