{"id":68779,"date":"2018-08-30T15:00:55","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T14:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=68779"},"modified":"2018-08-30T15:07:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T14:07:13","slug":"review-wstr-identity-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: WSTR \u2013 Identity Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-68780 size-medium alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\"><\/a>Since releasing debut album <em>&#8216;Red, Green or Inbetween&#8217;,<\/em>\u00a0<strong>WSTR<\/strong> have moved forward exponentially, signing to Hopeless Records in June and currently preparing for a first US tour. The move to Hopeless coincided with the announcement of the follow-up to <em>&#8216;RGOI&#8217;<\/em>, <em>&#8216;Identity Crisis&#8217;<\/em>, but also saw the band part ways with guitarist Danny Swift.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing to say is that the songs released so far from\u00a0<strong>WSTR<\/strong>&#8216;s second album \u2013 recorded with Swift present \u2013 have less flair than the tasters of\u00a0<em>&#8216;RGOI&#8217;<\/em>\u00a0had. First single <em>&#8216;Bad To The Bone&#8217;<\/em>\u00a0was a fun but odd marker to lay down, and the most recent, <em>&#8216;Silly Me&#8217;,<\/em>\u00a0is little more than a jaunty diversion.\u00a0And yet, there is something about the rest of <em>&#8216;Identity Crisis&#8217;<\/em> that suggests it may possess a longer lifespan than its predecessor, and more substance.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"WSTR - Crisis (Official Music Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wdSG_QzCtBI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">Maybe it is the incisiveness of <\/span><em style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">&#8216;Tell Me More&#8217;<\/em><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\"> as one of the more rough-edged things the band has produced and a ready-made set-opener, laced with a certain new energy while sticking to the formula that has served the Liverpool pop-punks well thus far.\u00a0<\/span>Perhaps it is the success of <em>&#8216;The Latest&#8217;,<\/em> the heavy-handedness of which shouldn&#8217;t work but empathically does, steeped in the influence of Weezer while planting itself firmly in the subconscious.<\/p>\n<p>Then again it could be the audacity to semi-parody a Cliff Richard song \u2013 <em>&#8216;See You In Hell&#8217;<\/em> is the first token acoustic song from <strong>WSTR<\/strong>, and there is a knowing humour to its chorus that just about prevents a buzzkill.\u00a0Or it might be arguably the pick of the lot, <em>&#8216;Hide Everything Sharp&#8217;<\/em>, with its suitably razor-edged melody and a fresh, alt-rock lead guitar tone that hands down beats the hit-and-miss solos that the band tend to shoehorn in.<\/p>\n<p>It might not have the sugar-rush impact\u00a0<em>&#8216;RGOI&#8217;<\/em> had on release, but as a piece, <em>&#8216;Identity Crisis&#8217;<\/em> finds <strong>WSTR<\/strong> with a higher hit-rate than ever before. It firmly secures their place at the forefront of UK pop-punk.<\/p>\n<p>4\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Identity Crisis&#8217;<\/em>\u00a0by\u00a0<strong>WSTR\u00a0<\/strong>is released on 31st August on\u00a0<strong>Hopeless Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WSTR\u00a0<\/strong>links: <a href=\"http:\/\/wstrband.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wstrband\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wstrband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/wstr.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wstrband\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Peter Stewart (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PeteStew_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@PeteStew_<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WSTR are far from a crisis as they firmly secure their place at the forefront of UK pop-punk on their sophomore effort<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":68780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,246,15694,15030,1111],"class_list":["post-68779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-hopeless-records","tag-identity-crisis","tag-peter-stewart","tag-wstr"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: WSTR \u2013 Identity Crisis - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WSTR are far from a crisis as they firmly secure their place at the forefront of UK pop-punk on their sophomore effort\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: WSTR \u2013 Identity Crisis - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WSTR are far from a crisis as they firmly secure their place at the forefront of UK pop-punk on their sophomore effort\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-30T14:00:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-30T14:07:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496-e1535482861164.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter Stewart\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter Stewart\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: WSTR \u2013 Identity Crisis - Already Heard Staging","description":"WSTR are far from a crisis as they firmly secure their place at the forefront of UK pop-punk on their sophomore effort","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: WSTR \u2013 Identity Crisis - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"WSTR are far from a crisis as they firmly secure their place at the forefront of UK pop-punk on their sophomore effort","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2018-08-30T14:00:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-08-30T14:07:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496-e1535482861164.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Peter Stewart","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peter Stewart","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/"},"author":{"name":"Peter Stewart","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/191d83bddce81df73ecb169723438c30"},"headline":"Review: WSTR \u2013 Identity Crisis","datePublished":"2018-08-30T14:00:55+00:00","dateModified":"2018-08-30T14:07:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/"},"wordCount":363,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496-e1535482861164.jpg","keywords":["Album Reviews","Hopeless Records","Identity Crisis","Peter Stewart","WSTR"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/","name":"Review: WSTR \u2013 Identity Crisis - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496-e1535482861164.jpg","datePublished":"2018-08-30T14:00:55+00:00","dateModified":"2018-08-30T14:07:13+00:00","description":"WSTR are far from a crisis as they firmly secure their place at the forefront of UK pop-punk on their sophomore effort","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-wstr-identity-crisis\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496-e1535482861164.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/027496-e1535482861164.jpg","width":1500,"height":1500},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/191d83bddce81df73ecb169723438c30","name":"Peter Stewart","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c311dce387d92bb4242246ff2b9d8aa6180b6b0b80bc883fe1d803dc8aae6b4e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c311dce387d92bb4242246ff2b9d8aa6180b6b0b80bc883fe1d803dc8aae6b4e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c311dce387d92bb4242246ff2b9d8aa6180b6b0b80bc883fe1d803dc8aae6b4e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peter Stewart"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/peterstewart\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68779"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68906,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68779\/revisions\/68906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}