London quartet, Piano Wire release their debut album Dream Underground via their own Hanging Houses label. Formerly of Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Sym Gharial and Andy Huxley split the duties thusly - Sym on bass and crafting those unique lyrics; Andy singing, writing the music and playing guitar. Their 2015 EP, The Genius Of The Crowd set out the band’s stall, discharging 8 blistering pop songs in 20 minutes. Dream Underground shows a giant leap forward in song-writing and approach, realising their aim to make a huge and satisfying rock album that could rattle the ribcages and fuel the imaginations of as many people as possible. It begins in style with the Gil Norton-produced Get A Life, a riff-fuelled punch in the gut, which serves as a delicious warning of what is to follow. It’s a down and dirty juxtaposition of dark and light, grit and sweetness, grinding riffs and explosive melody - a theme that continues throughout the record. The idea of hedonism and its consequences is often at the heart of their songs. Sym and Andy’s experiences have provided a lifetime’s worth of inspiration, powering the weirdly wonderful tales of the Dream Underground and beautifully realised in Jude Wainwright original oil paintings, commissioned for Loose Collective. Despite the darkness that undercuts many of their tracks, Piano Wire’s exuberant aesthetic is uncontrollable on the record’s monstrous peaks and choruses.
