This kid is absolutely nuts. I've listened to Ani, Meshugga, and Dillinger Escape Plan. I've reviewed dozens of technical power metal with longhaired Euros layering harmonics. Even more, he's using an acoustic guitar. The only musician who can compare to Andrew Wagner is Ember Swift but after seeing her twice I still have never heard sounds come out of a guitar the way that Andrew Wagner can do it. I've always associated the boy with the guitar as a folky singer-songwriter who plays cafes and subways but Wagner is not to be confused with the likes of any of Boston's scores of folkies, he's a guitarist first, a singer-songwriter second. Wagner finds chords that had previously never existed, exposing and exploiting them for amateur guitarists who have been playing for a year and still can't play a power chord with a consistency to admire and adore. He makes math geek rockers like Piebald sound obsolete. Thank You but our Princess is straight up guitar work with Wagner's vocals. No loops, overdubs, or fancy studio tricks. [ed: Well, except for the occasional interlude between songs.] There are also no pretentious Dashboard Confessional style lonely boy lyrics and no Elliot Smith dreaminess that makes an album great but knocks you out after fifteen minutes. Just TI-86 precise song structure and a soothing voice. Wagner grabs the listener's attention and refuses to let go until his lp is over. English professors may not be able to decipher his Merriam-Webster lyrics and musicians may not be able to decode his guitar chords but what we can do is sit back, grab a drink, and watch this young virtuoso do his thing.
--David Lucander, Message From The Homeland
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