Well well Welles

I tend to realize during these write ups that I wildly overestimate a songs reach simply because I listen to it on repeat. My reality about this next song review is vastly different than the truth.

One day listening to The Struts radio in early 2023 I happened upon a song that sounded so classic, so vintage in composition and mixing that it had to have been an unearthed track from a group like the Beatles. I was floored to find out the song was released in Jan. of 2023 and I likely was one of the first listeners on Spotify to hear the track considering the timeframe I had it added to my favorites.

I Keep Drifting by Welles has a vocal effect that feels more at home on an 8-track than it does a streaming platform and the bass riff takes the soul of an unmastered McCartney outtake and injects into a blues heavy single that deserves far more than the humble 5,000 streams it boasts on Spotify.

The guitar effects are crunchy and overdriven and likely influenced by grunge royalty Nirvana.

The whistle solo is cheesy in the best way possible and lends a thread of comic relief in a song that is curated to feel like a agonizing soulful ballad.

I am not sure how active Welles will be touring in the future, but considering they landed themselves onto The Struts radio, I imagine they will need to be a bucketlist group to catch one of these days.

As with most of my Quick AF Reviews, you can listen to I Keep Drifting on my Small Time, Big Sounds playlist.