The Welts - I Love You Grandma EP

The Welts

I Love You Grandma EP
self-released; 2015

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The Welts comprised of Mike Wheeler (vocals, guitar), James Van Brunt (drums), John Gray (guitar) and Matt Grippo (bass, keyboards) is a young high school band that is less than a year old. They already found time to record a three-song EP entitled I Love You, Grandma. The songs on the EP are simplistic garage rock. They don’t have many defining qualities at this point but it is nonetheless enjoyable.

The Welts made the wise decision of saving up some cash and record at a local recording studio. From an aesthetic standpoint the songs sound great. The songs sound live and raw but polished.

The EP begins with “Don’t Keep Me” which starts with bass, guitar and vocals. It has a ska/reggae/punk feel that sounds good on the band. Wheeler sings, “You should know better then to do that cause don't you know the good things they never really last and you're so quick to throw a good thing away I get more paranoid every single day.” The song feels fun and upbeat once the drummer kicks in and they increase the BPM. It’s a solid song overall and even though the song feels similar to plenty that have came before it shows a lot of promise for the band.

The band solidified that they enjoy changing tempo, which is rare amongst commercial acts these days. It’s a savvy move that allows them to allocate their energy. The song contains an enjoyable guitar solo and often sounds like a more garage rock like version of Weezer.

On the last song “Rambling Thoughts” the band introduces piano into the mix. The vibe and feel reverts to upbeat punk they played on the first song. They reach for a number of climaxes that they hit with some success. “Rambling Thoughts” is arguably the highlight of the three songs.

The Welts still have a lot to prove but luckily they still have a lot of time to do it. The band is graduating from high school so who knows if they will stay together with college on the horizon. If they plan on keeping the band alive they almost certainly have more material in which they can build upon the solid songs on I Love You, Grandma.

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