Ask anyone: high school can be a stressful place. But how about coupling the pressures of homework and prom alongside frequent band practices and playing live gigs in front of dozens of unruly music fans?
Welcome to the world of Whirl.
That name, say the members of Whirl, is “something that was simple, memorable, and non-specific to any genre.” The band, formed in October of 2010, consists of teenage members Chris Wardlaw (guitar, vocals) and brothers Dana (drums) and Lucas Kendall (bass, vocals).
Though the Kendall brothers had previously spent most of their lives playing together in one band or another, it wasn’t until Lucas met fellow Amherst High student Wardlaw that plans for the trio first began to crystallize.
“I started attending Amherst high school in 10th grade and met Chris,” says the elder Kendall. “We realized we liked similar music and just decided to play music one day. We wrote two songs [‘Throw up’ and ‘Red Balloons’], which later ended up being on our first record, Whirlwind.”
That album, much like the group’s recent self-titled disc released in December, is a hard-charging reminder that the best rock music is often the product of the young. Featuring gut-check riffs, ample guitar shredding and screaming vocals, the sound isn’t so much an experience as an assault. And with song titles like “Lily’s Bleeding Brain” and “Urethra Franklin” the subject matter is probably best described as age-appropriate.
While Lucas is currently enrolled in his first year at nearby Hampshire College, Chris and Dana are both still in high school. Because of conflicting schedules, the band often finds itself having difficulty setting aside time to get together and play.
Fortunately, according to Kendall, the group’s songwriting process has taken on a very individualistic bent, and the members have no problem working on an idea while on their own.
“Either Chris or [I] brings an almost-finished product to the other guys,” he says, “and we just kind of bust it out. Sometimes we write together as a team when we’re just fooling around.”
The band has also found its music difficult to define. Though they say it falls in the genre of “dark rock” and features material that’s been called “fun, exciting and angsty,” some listeners have started looking for clues in the group’s varied list of influences, which include Nirvana, Fugazi and Black Sabbath.
In any case, more insight may soon be found on Whirl’s next album, which the band is chomping at the bit to record as soon as possible.
“The newest album will definitely be heavier, some more metal influence, but still the same good ol’ Whirl,” says Kendall. “We have plenty of new material coming up.”
For more information on Whirl or to see future tour dates, please visit http://www.whirl.ws/.
