Wisco – B O A T R O C K (Album Review)

B O A T R O C K is the debut album from the band Wisco, fronted by Connor McManus. Up until this point, McManus and his band of merry fellows have released a few singles before the release of this record, some of which appear on it. B O A T R O C K seems to be a concept album (with a cool album cover, I might add), so let’s see what these scallywags have to offer.

The album begins with the track “Connor McManus”, after the band’s frontman. I don’t see what his name has to do with the song, but it’s damn good nonetheless. It seems to me as if it were a modern sea-shanty, which I found to be intriguing. The vocal harmonies, the slow build-up, and the guitar really make this great; I wouldn’t be surprised if this ends up being one of my favorite intros this year. The track then bleeds into “Princess”, a single that was released back in 2022. When the synth comes up, I immediately thought of One Piece, which I’m sure was the vibe Wisco was going for. It’s certainly a catchy tune with a nice riff, including a bit of surf rock influence. “Pace” is also a nice song, very reminiscent of what you would hear in the early 2010’s. Certainly not my cup of tea, but it’s hard to resist, especially with that synth lead.

Now to what is undoubtedly the best song on here, “Smooth Sailing”. The melody (which sounds like something Twenty Pilots would make) and chorus may not be the most original, it’s a hell of an earworm. I also love the instrumentation, full of tropical flavor (which the Latin in me loves) combined with a punkish attitude of sorts, which will appear in other songs. There’s so much more I can say about this song and why it’s great, but there’s so many cool things going on. I have to shout you guys out, well done on this one!

“Living Room (for jesus)” is where the album gets a little shaky. I’ll just come by and say that the lyrics are a bit cringe with the religious imagery and bars like, “When we Rome across the sea”. I don’t see how the religious theme goes together with the album’s concept, even though parts of that are mentioned in the song. Although, I will admit that the instrumentation on the second half is better than the first, which I found to be quite boring. “Thank God (i’m an atheist)”, which I imagine is the former song’s companion piece, is a little similar. Thought, I will say that this one is better, especially with how the different vocals interacted with each other.

“You, Me, Her” is a song that I usually wouldn’t like, as it isn’t my particular preference, but I cannot ignore the passion that went behind those vocals. I also really like the story-telling in the song, which is a factor that I would say is present in most of the songs on the record. I can’t say the same for “Vomit” though. I get the sentiment behind the song, but it just felt out of place, especially when looking at the grand scheme of things.

Also, it’s pretty derivative, I would say, as I can imagine that “Vomit” could’ve been something that My Chemical Romance left on the cutting room for one of their albums. “Lion/Miss You” is another song I didn’t really care for. Not that it’s terrible, I was just bored for most of it, even in that second-half. At least for me, I don’t find the whole “lion losing his pride” motif all that effective of an analogy, not that it makes much sense to begin with.

However, the album picks up with “Floating On”, which I found to be quite lovely. I love the guitar, especially with the melody that it leads on, along with the overall production that builds up the song’s atmosphere. “Shitty Weather” is similar, a nice song that sounds like something I would’ve heard in my childhood, evident by those drums. I want to point out the guitar and bass work, which make this song what it is. A little generic? Sure, but it’s damn catchy. “NEW Swimming Pool” just kicks ass. Again, not really original, but it’s hard not to groove and have fun with it.

All songs ranked on a scale of 0-4:

1. Connor McManus – 4
2. Princess – 4
3. Pace – 4
4. Smooth Sailing – 4
5. Living Room (for jesus) – 1
6. You, Me, Her – 4
7. B O A T R O C K – N/A (Interlude)
8. Vomit – 2
9. Lion/Miss You – 2
10. Thank God (i’m an atheist) – 2
11. Floating On – 4
12. Shitty Weather – 3
13. B O A T R O C K E D – N/A (Interlude)
14. NEW Swimming Pool – 4

SCORE/Good: My hats off to this band. Even though I necessarily wouldn’t grade this record as an “A-tier”, there is so much potential. Those first four songs are practically immaculate and represent creativity that every artist should strive for. Regarding advice, I would tell you guys to keep doing what you’re doing, just be sure to be more consistent if you’re going to be working with concepts and to maybe rely a little less on your influences. Other than that, I really enjoyed this record and the great production by Josue Diaz. I bid you guys the best of luck and I hope to listen and review your work very soon!

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