WHITE LUNG - Deep Fantasy

Artist:  White Lung

Album:  Deep Fantasy

Year:  2014

Genre:  Punk

I am completely addicted to Kenneth William’s guitar playing.  Weird way to start a review, but I can’t deny the truth.  The world of punk rock is not exactly known for having a legion of stand-out players.  There’s a reason punk stereotypically got labeled “3-chord” as bands vehemently resisted having guitar heroes in their ranks.  Yet, Dr. Know, Poison Ivy, Billy Zoom, East Bay Ray, Brian Baker and more are looked upon as remarkable and innovative players outside the confining walls of the genre.  White Lung has produced 4 consistently strong albums where William has mesmerized me with his creativity and tough-to-imitate style.  I might even dare to say his playing is unique.  I don’t make a habit of stealing things other people have written, but I read a comment on one of their posted YouTube songs that said, “It's like if Johnny Marr played for the Ramones.”  Well, for the life of me I can’t think of a better description that absolutely nails what I wanted to say myself.  So, kudos user Caio Simoneti!  Your insight is greatly appreciated.

Now, an unfamiliar listener might surmise that this band utilizes a nice, safe and pop-oriented approach since there is intricate guitar work involved.  Nothing could be further from the truth and that’s where the Johnny Marr / Ramones reference ends.  At their core, White Lung is a vicious and aggressive band driven by ceaseless energy and blistering vitality.  This band has fangs and bears them ferociously as not a single moment of their records are wasted on tranquil dynamics.  The majority of their songs hover right around the 2 minute mark and none of their full-length releases contain more than 11 songs.  Time furiously rushes by and you realize the needle has hit the runout groove.  They are the embodiment of the “Get in. Get out. Leave them wanting more.” theory.  It takes talent to sound like complete instrument bashers and be technically proficient at the same time.  White Lung are chock full of talent and probably could’ve written any type of record they wanted, but they intentionally keep the music direct and fervid.  Mish’s vocals take a major jump in quality here.  The hooks were good before, but now they’re fantastic!  She’s always had the aggression angle covered, but her diversity and depth on Deep Fantasy is a welcome addition.

Each of White Lung’s albums are tiny atom bombs that left a large impact.  I truly think they were bound for bigger things, but they ceased releasing music after 2016.  It’s a shame.  They were the band punk rock needed to demonstrate how to be passionately independent as they refused to bend just to gain next-level commercial success.  Here’s hoping there’s some sort of  “come back” for White Lung because they were just too talented to quit at that point.

Listen to "Snake Jaw" here.