Imagine if Incesticide-era Nirvana were crossed with Static Age-era garage-punk Misfits—a sinister low-budget horror rock with a visceral, twisted weirdness and bludgeoning riffs. Some might call it nightmarish, Riding Easy call it Warish.
Warish is a very newly-minted SoCal trio formed in early 2018 that has wasted no time making its presence known. The band formed when guitarist / vocalist and pro-skater Riley Hawk (son of skating legend Tony Hawk) and drummer Bruce McDonnell decided they wanted to try their hand at something more distinct than they’d done previously. “We wanted to do simpler riffs and a fun live show,” Riley explains. “A little more punk, a little bit of grunge... a little evil-ish.”
Their sound takes cues from a variety of cool underground sounds and twists it all into an energetic and exciting fist-to-the-face of dark fury. Hawk’s effect-laden vocals hearken to early Butthole Surfers and David Yow’s tortured caterwaul in Scratch Acid. The guitars are heavy and powerful, though decidedly not straightforward cookie cutter punk; more like Cobain’s and Buzz Osbourne’s wiry contortions. The rhythms bash and pummel right through it all with aggressive force ensuring that nothing gets overly complicated and the horrors keep coming throughout the band’s warlike assault.
“Remember when indie rock sounded all grimy, corroded and metal-sludgy—the last thing you’d hear in a commercial or being played at an arena show? Warish do. It’s music to the ears of anyone who wants to damage their ears.” — Rolling Stone
“Warish totally rules... An awesome mixture of punk energy, biker rock fuzz, and grunge growl.” — Kerrang!
