“Mona Lisa” by Atlas Wynd – A Song Review

     The intro of “Mona Lisa” is useful in a discussion of the difference that an intro can make to the willingness of a listener to accept a song from outside the wheelhouse of that listener. You’re not going to find much Garage Rock within the posts of Indie Obsessive. It’s not because of a distaste for the genre; it’s more a result of limiting posts to songs to which there are connections, such as melodic or emotional connections. Normally, Garage Rock doesn't generate a sense of connection for us. "Mona Lisa" did, and the intro played an important role.

     The first few seconds of the song from Atlas Wynd are filled with non-melodic mysterious sounds. They draw attention primarily because the approach is foreign to most song arrangements. Then, a low frequency guitar riff enters with a grip that doesn’t allow the attention to escape. Forty seconds into “Mona Lisa,” the vocals make their appearance, and they do not disappoint. The early arrangement is the 2017 equivalent to Pink Floyd’s “Welcome to the Machine” (1975 - CLICK HERE, if interested).

     Beyond the intro, “Mona Lisa” is a tightly arranged and produced Garage Rock gem that includes an exploration into Psychedelicia. For example, at the 2:20 mark, the listener is delivered into a steady-beat, wondering-guitar world with despondent vocals. If it’s fair to compare the early portion to a Pink Floyd song, it’s at least as fair to compare the middle to The Doors’ “The End,” but without a keyboard. It’s unlikely that Atlas Wynd consciously borrowed from these classics. But if they did, we should tip our hats to “Mona Lisa,” because Atlas Wynd added features that clearly allowed the song to stand on its own (and stand tall).   

     Atlas Wynd is Peter Chapman (vocals, guitar) and Harry Sotnick (drums) from Brighton, UK. For more information about the duo, read the SubmitHub discussion, which is pasted at the bottom of this post. 

     “Mona Lisa” by Atlas Wynd 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AtlasWynd

Website: http://atlaswynd.com/

     Quoting content from the SubmitHub submission:

  Atlas Wynd have unveiled their latest cut, ‘Mona Lisa’, following an explosive debut which took them all the way to South Korea’s Zandari Festa. The Brighton-based duo of Peter Chapman (vocals/guitar) and Harry Sotnick (drums) are barely out of their teens but operate like seasoned professionals as they thrash and snarl on this absolute brute of a new single. Having already secured a fan in Huw Stephens, who premiered ‘Mona Lisa’ on BBC Radio 1, the band are currently making preparations for a release show later this month, before launching into a string of festival appearances.

  ‘Mona Lisa’ is only the second track to come from the young two-piece, but already there’s an unbridled power behind every bite of the guitar/drum marriage that promises to keep delivering for some time to come. The track was born out of long rehearsal room jams and simply having fun with a song without thinking too much about what it meant. Speaking of the murky finale, Peter explains how it started as ‘a poem I was writing in my head while pacing around the kitchen in our old house’, before taking on an extended outro, fuelled by raw energy. The recording is the result of a week long studio session with Irish duo St. Francis Hotel last year, and with the remaining half to follow soon, the band plan on getting straight back to sharing the new material in a live setting, the way it was always meant to be experienced.

  The garage rock duo grew up in the North East of England before moving to Brighton to study. Following stand out slots at Great Escape, Y Not Festival and regular appearances at Brighton’s Green Door Store, Atlas Wynd have firmly established themselves as a promising name to look out for in the not too distant future.