Donovan Wolfington - “Spencer Green”

The colorfully-named Donovan Wolfington is a five piece punk group based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Although not particularly known for its punk scene, New Orleans has been a harbinger of musical progress for as long as anyone can remember, so it should be no surprise that this great new band hails from there. 

The group debuted with a four track demo EP last year called Sometimes, Nostalgia, but their new single “Spencer Green” hints at some larger ambitions. The most interesting thing going on here is the production, engineered and mixed by Ross Farbe, who coated this track in a thin layer of reverb that accentuates the tactile qualities of the guitars and the searing rawness of the vocals in the verses. The song itself falls, rather predictably, somewhere between 90s emo and indie rock, but the production and instrumentation make it stand out among its emo revival peers nicely. Hints of synth and gentle female backing vocals contrast well with the screamed lead vocals and self-loathing lyrics, while the tasteful reverb wash gives “Spencer Green” some noise pop flavor.

On a conceptual level, this band clearly has their shit together — just as the lead singer begins to scream “Everything I planned is wrong,” the instrumentation around him falls apart into a mess of screeching guitar feedback and smashed cymbals. The effect works; this is a band to keep an eye on, as long as they don’t destroy themselves any time soon.

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Stream “Spencer Green” above and download it for whatever you want to pay from Donovan Wolfington’s bandcamp page. This track will appear on a forthcoming album which should be out in the fall on Chinquapin Records. 

EDIT: Derrick Shanholtzer informs me that the new record will also be released on casette on Broken World Media. Neat!