Mainstream rock has, admittedly, given us some hit-and-miss results this season, but deep within the American underground, Messer is dishing out the mighty melodies that fans have been demanding since the start of the year. In their new single “Unfvckwitable,” Messer exploits a danceable beat with a visceral riff-rocking aesthetic that is soaked in distortion and compressed to sustain a harmonic for as long as audiologically possible. With a powerful groove that must have been inspired by the first-gen NWOBHM meshed with the lyrical bite of the modern progressive era, “Unfvckwitable” is one rock single that no one is going to want to miss this October.
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/messerband/
There’s an old-school tonality in the guitars here, but make no mistake about it – there’s nothing about this song that would lead me to use words like “throwback” to describe its content. There are the bells and whistles of an 80’s glam rock unit left intact in the chorus, but they’re melded with a crude, punkish segue into the refrain that opens up so much room in the master mix for the bassline to fill with colorful texture. It’s not avant-garde, but “Unfvckwitable” has a provocative stylization that doesn’t fit in with the current atypical rock model at all (in a good way).
I don’t see any need to hide the obvious here – Messer are as cinematic a heavy band as they come, and honestly, I get the impression that they’re very proud of that aspect of their sound. The lyrics, the production value, the arrangement of the strings; everything here is about celebrating the gluttony of rock n’ roll at its most unrestrained, but instead of coming across like an arrogant group of party boys, this band sounds very deliberate in their use of the concept and, dare I say it, intellectual in their compositional style. That’s a rare find in this genre – or for that matter, anywhere in contemporary western pop.
Not a lot of bands in Messer’s scene are working with the level of melodicism mixed with raw physicality that they are in “Unfvckwitable,” but that isn’t the only reason why I think that their music is so memorable for more casual rock fans like myself. There’s a diverse group of influences in play here, and while the metallic fireworks are the centerpiece, they’re bolstered by the club beats that drive the rhythm of the song. The band calls for a very multifaceted layout in this performance, but I think it’s a lot more inventive than such pedestrian terminology could account for.
SMART URL: https://messer.ffm.to/unfvckwitable
You don’t have to be a hardcore heavy rock buff to end up head-banging to Messer’s thriller of a new cut, “Unfvckwitable,” but for those who live and die by the genre’s most enthralling artists, this is a single that will haunt your dreams long after hearing it for the first time. They show off some serious charisma in this track and back it up with skillful handling of complicated riffs and blistering beats, and after finding myself hooked on the song’s signature grooves, I plan on keeping a close eye on their upcoming releases as well.
Garth Thomas