Album Review: Wicca Pha$e $prings Eternal - "Bite My Ear" 7"

Wicca Pha$e $prings Eternal is most commonly known as the new side-project of Tigers Jaw frontman Adam Mcllwee, and most accurately defined as witch house via Brian Eno via a room full of lava lamps and murky bong water. For anyone who heard the six-track demo he put out last year under the moniker 'Blood Man', the style and direction of the Wicca Pha$e $prings Eternal EP won't come as much of a surprise, but if you are unfamiliar or confused about what's going on here, let's get one thing cleared up: Wicca Pha$e $prings Eternal is absolutely nothing like Tigers Jaw. The two are entirely incomparable on almost every level. The best way to come at Wicca Pha$e is to gather all the preconceptions of what you think a Tigers Jaw member's side-project might sound like and then disregard them completely. "Bite My Ear" occupies an altogether different space from the melodic bite-your-bottom-lip-and-fist-pump indie-punk hits you all know, love, and have probably come to expect from Adam Mcllwee. Where Tigers Jaw is visceral, tangible and energetic, Wicca Pha$e is atmospheric, surreal and slow-burning. Tigers Jaw is the soundtrack to bottles hitting the floor, to bodies hitting each other, to drunk friends slurring endless I love you, man’s before wolfing down pizza and passing out face-down on a dingy carpet. Wicca Pha$e is more of a musical manifestation of the intangible. Like 'Blood Man', it's all bedrooms with blackout-blinds, burning incense and dripping candle wax, but now has the addition of a more traditional songwriting structure, led by melody rather than mood.

There's definitely something a little tongue-in-cheek about the whole project, though. As if each beat, lyric, or interview response comes with a knowing smiley face wink as a footnote. Their Tumblr page is a neon-splashed collection of pixelated gifs pertaining to drugs, cats and anachronistic video games, and if you type 'Wicca Phase' into YouTube you'll come up with a live video of Adam slurring the line "baby I'm in love with your ass" over a Das Racist-style hip-hop beat. Make of that what you will, but the image built around Wicca Pha$e is deliberately mysterious and doesn't command much of an influence when it comes to the real appeal of "Bite My Ear".

With the two-track EP, Adam Mcllwee wraps you up in his own cushioned daydream that feels blissfully adolescent as he drawls "I look good when I'm wearing your clothes, you look good with smoke in your eyes". With thick, syrupy synths and hazy production that nods towards Clams Casino in terms of style, "Magentagram" has a swirling, underwater feel to it. Adam's familiar droning vocals are submerged beneath a warped arrangement of spectral loops and programmed drum beats. They have a little more command on the title-track - the more melodic half of the release - alongside Brianna Collins (also of Tigers Jaw) providing accompaniment amid a more upbeat, sharply produced mix of zoned-out, loved-up Casio keyboards.

Despite embodying the vibe of a 'metaphysical goth rave', "Bite My Ear" is, above all else, another outlet for Adam’s innate sense of melody and knack for writing ear-worm hooks. It may not be what you would expect, but if you approach it with an open mind then it certainly won't disappoint.

4/5

"Bite My Ear" 7" is now available for pre-order here via Bloodsells.

Emma Garland