The Wild Reeds Revel in the World We Built

Over the next four years, we’re going to see a lot of protest music. Most of it’s not going to be particularly good or interesting. Most of it’s going to be angry, urgent, sad. But The Wild Reeds, possibly without knowing it at the time, are bursting through the generic junk with an unexpected spin: exuberance.

The World We Built manages to bitterly condemn oppression in its many forms — sexism, economic, environmental degradation, self-doubt — while proudly and fiercely declaring a sense of self-love that reminds us all we are perfectly capable of creating a world we want and the resilience necessary to get there. In “Only Songs,” the trio triumphantly reminds the narrator’s lover that

The only thing that saves me
Are the songs I sing, baby
You can’t save me from anything

This isn’t a rejection of the person she’s singing to, nor a searing self-critique (as opposed to Two Cow Garage’s “Sweet Saint Me.”) It’s revelry in knowing that the narrator can rely on herself, not just the help of others, to get her through.

It’s these layers amid beefy hooks and thrilling three-part harmonies that prove The Wild Reeds’ excellence. Hie thee to your nearest record store to avail yourself of this nuanced critique of the world we built and a pathway to the one we could have if we put aside the fears that hold us back.

The Wild Reeds — Official, Facebook, Purchase Digital/Vinyl, Purchase Digital

Originally purchased on Adobe & Teardrops