7.5/10
Boss Witch is an alternative rock band from Hobart, Tasmania, that released their debut mixtape Low End Deficiency on October 17th, 2018. The band consists of Trai Wells(vocals, guitars, keyboards, drum programming), Louis Buza (Vocals, guitars, keyboards, kazoo, tambourine) and Morgan Tarbath (bass).
The mixtape starts with “Got It Figured Out,” an uplifting melody that reminds me of sunshine and rainbows while the vocals sound angsty-spoken-word style like Weezer. It honestly sounds like those happy disco records your parents listened to with a twist.
We reach a more grunge-oriented territory with “Vein.” It has the grungy guitar tone, and even those wavy Nirvana style effects. Albeit it grungy, it’s actually very soothing and calming.
”Zap The World” uses major chord progressions while maintaining a gloomy atmosphere. This song is also more punk rock, with the bassline being very prominent hitting base notes in 16ths.
”Ghost” is their country song ballad. You have an acoustic guitar that almost sounds like a ukulele, while the electric guitar resonates lovely notes that have that wavy surfer effect on it. This song could be played as a slow dance for sure. I don’t like country, and I’m picky with ballads, but this one just ticks all the right boxes for a fusion.
”So Pretty” is a sleaze rock song, with the lyrics being “you’re so pri-tay”. You can prominently hear Louis’s kazoo in this one too.
It ends with “Dollar Store Headphones” which has a low-fi ethos, as the name suggests. It sounds like 8-bit music and the vocals sound like they are filtered through a telephone at times. This track is ambient, has no percussion and ends with a long resonating note that fades into obscurity. Calming yet dark.
This is a mixtape, not even a demo, so I’m guessing the band is still trying to find their sound. If I had to choose a hard direction, I would go with the ethos of “Vein” or “Zap The World.” It’s still a great mixtape with a lot of variation and experimentation which is why I’m giving it a 7.5/10.
Written by Peter Lountzis
*edited by Mike Milito
That’s my boy☄️☀️🌈🌹