Red Wire Black Wire

"...Red Wire Black Wire is pretty damn fierce. The synth-heavy song Compass would be the perfect track for Rocky Balboa to sprint up those infamous stairs, shed a tear, and then breakdance back down."
-RCRD LBL - RCRD LBL

In my youth, I was always scared of New York City. I learned to love it upon moving/working here, but there are some days where I feel like I'm fading here. This isn't a foreign feeling. I've felt it at college, certain jobs, and elsewhere. I'm aware that it's not a particularly original or revolutionary feeling. We've all been in those places in which we feel our current location or situation is eating away at our soul, right?

Well, Red Wire Black Wire's "Dying Or Insane" puts a tune beyond these emotions, with a simple refrain of "I think this place is killing me slowly, slowly". It may sound a little too emo for your tastes (perhaps it is), but who doesn't feel a little emo every now and then? With that said, Red Wire Black Wire describes their sound as "the saddest dance party". We all know that adding a bit of dance to your sadness always makes you feel less pathetic (think certain songs by The Cure, etc), and the results here are impeccable.

"Dying Or Insane" is among the less-upbeat songs on RWBW's debut Compass EP, joined by "Bloodline" (seemingly prepped for their unlikely country/folk crossover). The remaining three songs, including the booming title track "Compass", bump out the beats and pump out the tears. Word on the street (aka the internet) is that their live show is quite the sight. If you're in NYC, you can catch them at Club Midway (25 Avenue B, between 2nd and 3rd) on March 21st. That's Good Friday yall, and I can't think of a better way to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus than dancing to some electro-pop jams. - It's The Money Shot

Can’t say that we really know much about this band. There’s all of one article about them on the whole internet. Their MySpace page describes their sound as the saddest dance party. They mixed their EP at the studio where Interpol and The National hang their hats. While there, it is reported that they made “the bass more bangy and the treble more shiny and the delay more repeaty.� They come from or are still at Wesleyan University, so they’re probably pretty young. Lastly, they just played the always awesome Pull-Out Method party out at Midway - which we hear is now called Rehab.

Bam! Now you know everything we do.

So let’s just report on the material in front of us, shall we? Red Wire Black Wire play music that might be described by some as emo electro. I wouldn’t describe it that way because, personally, I think emo gargles my balls. However, I really like this. It is the sound of haunting pop, funkafized by drum machines and buttery analogue keyboards. Lyrically, singer Doug Walters walks a path between beat poetry and junkie crime novels. On “Compass,� the title track from the EP, he sings “took your body back to my hometown/went to my childhood house and I burned it down/picked a couple cinders off the ground/mixed them with brandy and drank it down.� Look out Frank Miller. This guy is dark.

We’re officially declaring this the new hotness. The group is already doing remixes for DNTEL, so you know it won’t be long before they’re spinning Red Wire Black Wire at the Viper Room. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say they might even appear on the soundtrack to the next movie about slacker goth vampire ninjas (aka The Crow 3). Listen up and get down. - //Wire

An EP on the way with band members just out of university and touring the North-Eastern US, melancholic indie electronica merchants Red Wire Black Wire have already learned one great lesson - make your despair danceable. - Q Magazine

"Wesleyan University in Connecticut has spawned artists such as MGMT, Amazing Baby and Santogold - and there's more to follow.

Red Wire Black Wire are recent additions to Wesleyan's music alumni and are currently turning heads in Brooklyn with their icy Human League-meets-Ladytron electro pop."
- NME