Album Review: Jaws The Shark – Wasteland

The Breakdown

One shark, 11 Songs, a brilliant album.

– 8.8

Jaws The Shark’s debut album ‘Wasteland’ spans ten tracks written entirely by Olly Bailey, the man behind Jaws The Shark, and was produced by previous collaborator George Perks at VADA Recording Studios. Not only were the 11 tracks written by Bailey, but they were also performed by him, with help from bassist Brendan O’Boyle and Dinosaur Pile-Up’s Michael Sheils on drums.

There is a brief musical intro of drum and bass before the first tracks boots off before the foot is slammed down, and the album begins properly with the title track. It’s a pulsating rock gem full of nostalgia harking back to when rock used to dominate the charts. There’s a powerful feel to this album that starts with this track,” It may be a wasteland, but it’s our wasteland”, vibe.

The energetic Single ‘California’ with its explosive drum track, picks up the energy dropped by Wasteland and doubles it. The only sensible response is to turn the volume up and keep it up as the dirty bass groove ‘Got It Made’ feat Deaf Havana’s lead vocalist, James Veck-Gilodi, is a standout statement track with slick verses and Bailey’s signature explosive chorus.

After the open rock of the first three tracks, the bouncy punk-pop of ‘Lately’ Snappy riffing on ‘End Of An Era’ is backed by O’Boyle’s chunky bass and a heady dose of confident swagger well earned by this man. Especially with tracks like ‘Last Train Santa Fe’ and ‘Rejoice Or Pray’. The former is a mini-masterpiece bringing things down a notch with a country and western-tinged ballad demonstrating Baileys’s calmer songwriting. The gothic chorus and rolling verses sound awesome, topped by the raging middle where the guitars are let loose to make merry.

The epic ‘Rejoice Or Pray’ is a vast track that sees Jaws at his expansive best. The euphoric riffs and sparse verses give the album some breathing space. It is a track that gives you goosebumps as we hear Bailey in a sea of rage, quickly calmed by strings as the track comes to a close. The calm continues with the acoustic-led ‘Nothing Lasts’, featuring a great vocal performance that you can feel is the lighter-in-the-air moment for a Jaws The Shark live show. “You can’t change the world even though you want to”

The 90s nostalgia returns on ‘Summer Puddle,’ which goes almost nu-metal on the chorus. The music is steeped in a nostalgic vibe, but the lyrics are up-to-date, tackling modern-day struggles, frustrations, and joys. ‘Summer Puddle,’ in particular, covers the relationship during the British summer months. It is a bittersweet relationship, a thread that runs throughout the album’s lyrics.

Singing off in true Jaws The Shark style, the final track, ‘Just Popping Out Forever,’ starts with softer indie rock verses that beg an audience to sing back. It feels like an important track, and the spoken monologue is a deep, honest contract between the artist and the audience.

There’s no denying the talent of Olly Bailey to craft a record as polished as this one. 11 strong tracks with some proper belters set for the arena stage, bedroom rocking or losing the world between headphones. Bailey clarifies, “Wasteland is an album that I’d been wanting to write for some time now, and one that I’m really proud of personally. Some of the tracks that I write wouldn’t necessarily be put into the Jaws The Shark category when you look back at what I’ve released previously, but I wanted this album to show off some of my versatility that I like to explore when writing songs.”

Check out the track