WD-HAN – Bad (2020)
If you can honestly say you have never felt any twinge of anger in your life, I’d say you are lying. Anger is one of the most instinctive human emotions and experienced by everyone regardless of your age, gender, ethnicity or even calling in life. I mean, even priests feel anger every now and then. Think about the Archdeacon from The Hunchback of Notre Dame – despair and displeasure all over the place.
Psychological theory marks anger as one of the stages of grief immediately after denial and before bargaining. The Kubler-Ross Stages of Grief is typically applied in cases of bereavement, but it can be applied to all forms of personal loss. The end of a romantic relationship is a perfect example. First, you deny it and cry your eyes out, then you want to bash your ex’s head in before trying to get back together. Some miss the denial and ignore bargaining, but blood-boiling hatred is almost always evident. When you find yourself seething and throwing plates against the wall, I recommend listening to WD-HAN’s single ‘Bad’.
WD-HAN is an alternative rock trio from the USA merging blues, rock and soul to create memorable music. Reminiscent of Three Days Grace and Incubus, vocalist Spencer Barnes, guitarist Cal Henry and percussionist Lea Barnes produce tracks that speak to listeners on a deeper level. With a career spanning over a decade, WD-HAN has performed with acts like Paramore, appeared at thousands of venues, and, showing a charitable side, have played numerous gigs for anti-drugs and pro-human rights groups.
After releasing four albums or EPs, WD-HAN is taking on 2020 with a new single every month. Following the track ‘Icarus’ but preceding ‘Shiver’, ‘Bad’ is a song showing emotional depth. Powerful lyrics over strong guitar riffs and steady drumming, this track digs deep into the human soul and expels every blood-boiling thought after breaking up. I’m not talking about the ‘drifted apart’ break-up; I’m talking about that immediate and unexpected end. Barnes (the singer and not the percussionist) boldly conveys every vengeful judgement we want to shout: “We had a good thing then you turned it bad. You can lie and try to blame your Dad. I know you did it to make me mad.” Relatable? At least I think so.
While the track may seem spiteful, WD-HAN focuses on joy and self-improvement rather than hate. ‘Bad’ implies anger against another but, on the flip side, it could be considered openly avoiding self-blame for certain situations. Raising an eyebrow and shaking a head instead of curling up in a ball and breathing heavily (in a bad way). Everyone needs to take responsibility but rather reach that point without hating yourself.
On Facebook, WD-HAN refers to themselves as “the future of music in America fulfilling the very purpose of music: to raise people to the heights of living where they belong.” After listening to the compelling ‘Bad’, I can’t agree enough. I can’t get enough of this energetic group and I’m sure you’ll feel the same.
You can engage with WD-HAN on Facebook, Spotify, Instagram and their official website
