Why Patterns : SCREAMERS
London noise punk trio Why Patterns are one of the standout bands on the roster of the esteemed Human Worth, a label that’s grown into a meticulously curated gallery of sludgy yet cutting noise rock that counts TORPOR, Remote Viewing, Cower and 72% as alumni. Why Patterns bassist Seb Tull also plays the drums for post-metal greats Wren, whilst drummer Daniel McClennan also drums for electronic noisemakers Warren Schoenbright, further connecting them to the broader community of UK cacophonists. Teaming up with Petbrick’s Wayne Adams for their sophomore effort, SCREAMERS, Why Patterns pack ten songs into just 17 minutes, crafting an impressively tight and concise din.
“After the Bullfight” makes for a powerful opener, Tull keeping his bass sludgy in a manner akin to KEN mode’s Skot Hamilton while applying all manner of driving, spacey-sounding pedal effects to it. Doug Norton’s vocals have an eerie, echoey quality to them in the verses that gives the song a lightness and space which belie the harshness of the rhythm section. Norton opens “Clown in a Housefire” by cackling maniacally, a vocal technique he employs at various other points throughout the album. It had an unsettling effect on me; with so much other stuff going on in the surprisingly dense mix created by just a bassist and drummer, it sounds like Norton is fighting to make his voice heard above the din—and winning. The sounds Tull makes come out of his bass here and elsewhere are surprisingly high-pitched. At no point would anyone be left thinking, “This band could do with a guitarist.” Why Patterns compensate for this lack with a bass sound that is similar to Lightning Bolt’s in terms of how pounding it is, but if anything, features even more abrupt tonal shifts than that band does. Equally impressive is how hard McClennan pounds his drums on “Self-Defeating Trebuchet” and “Nervous Laughter.”
Norton’s screams combine with McClennan’s drums and Tull’s bass on “Wind Up Chattering Teeth” to create a racket that is both hard and fast, the bass alternating between low rattles and high wails. “Clubfoot by Kasabian by Blacklisters,” which humorously invokes the image of the Leeds noise punks covering the Leicester mid-’00s indie rockers’ anthem, feels like a bit of a let-up in pace after what has preceded it in terms of the bass, but thankfully, McClennan’s drumming ensures the song still has a decent amount of heft to it. The title track is the album’s best song, packing four or five minutes’ worth of furious screaming from Norton and pummeling playing from the rhythm section into just 52 seconds. The reverberant effects on the vocals on “Upside Down Mondrian” have an eerie quality to them which complements the unholy racket created by Tull and McClennan. This gives way to some of the album’s most truly unhinged-sounding screaming and screeching that sets in in the song’s final third.
SCREAMERS concludes with “Buffoons and Barrel Organs,” on which the bass takes on this buzzsaw quality and Norton asks midway through: “Why do I cross the road? / ‘Cause I’m a fucking chicken.” The song then develops into this loop of Norton singing “round and around and around” over and over as the bass roars and the drums crash before they careen to a halt and the vocals reach an a cappella stop just short of the three-minute mark. The album ends at the same breakneck pace with which it began, and far from outstaying its welcome, I was actually left wishing it could have gone on for slightly longer.
With SCREAMERS, Why Patterns have proven themselves to be a trio capable of great speed, concision, and fury, but have also demonstrated an aptitude for precision and dextrous playing. In a crowded British noise rock scene, they have made themselves stand out through the way they create an admirably thick, dense sound despite their minimal instrumentation, and the way they sonically interlock with each other cohesively, meticulously, and adroitly as a trio.
Label: Human Worth
Year: 2025
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