Wayne Is So Sad - Got No Soul

The new release by Wayne Is So Sad is like a sucker punch: a quick and deadly blow that takes one by surprise.

Here's the breakdown:

I couldn't tell you why there are only seven songs totaling 13 minutes, four of them clocking in at less than two minutes. But them's the facts, ma'am. It's a quickie.

What I can tell you, however, is that their second release picks up where the first left off (almost literally, as this new one kicks off with a brief instrumental then a reprise of the first album's closing number, I Love You, inverted from its original acoustic rendition into electric punk), and then spreads its wings to cover even more territory.

One of the many things I really enjoy about WISS is their vocal delivery/phrasings. As a friend pointed out, they write great drinking songs - tunes you could easily belt out while swaying back and forth, one arm around your best buddy and the other proudly hoisting a pint to skies, beer and sentiment spilling over the sides in a pure, messy love. 喔 我沒有靈魂 and 情歌小品 keep in this tradition, making me want to put every friendly face in a headlock and run happy drunken circles till we both collapse laughing.

The surprises of the album are the acoustic Last Train Home (recalling Against Me!), 親親寶貝 晚安, and ASS (Andy's So Sad / 最後的選擇). WISS do what good bands do - they rock, yes, but they also allow themselves to mature and follow their hearts; they don't place limits on what their music should be, they put a premium on creating good music however it should be. Punk rock, as I understand it, is a combat boot in the face of convention and daring voice that speaks truths, warts and all. Wayne Is So Sad is punk rock. Gloriously so. Wayne Is So Punk Rock.

So 13 minutes have passed and what to do next? You could stare at the hilarious album cover photo of what appears to be a band camp with Wayne standing sullen at the side. You could play the disc on endless repeat. You could play the first album on endless repeat (or go buy it already!). You could pray they make it back to the studio soon, like within the next 13 minutes. You could scour GigGuide.tw for any upcoming shows. Or you could feel happy there is one more band out there to make life worth living.

Me, I'm doing all of the above.