OUT NOW!
Webb Chapel - Vernon Manner SM085
12” Vinyl!
Proceeds benefit PAWS
Little was said about World Cup, Webb Chapel’s sleeper hit of 2024. Recorded and released during a time of immense upheaval for the band, people in their inner circle became growingly convinced that it was a swan song, owed in equal parts to the volatile nature of the group and the reclusive nature of primary songwriter Zack Claxton in general.
Originating as a solo project, the philly-by-texas musician’s prolific grit has spawned nine, count them, nine, releases since 2022, each one a relative middle finger to philly’s laissez-faire scene of ‘ultimate homies’ who seem content to buy pedals and impersonate 90’s lollapalooza aesthetics. Vernon Manner, not to be confused with Vernon Manor (2024), shoots off like a cannon, increasing the depth of field to anthemic territories, while maintaining a vulnerability that feels almost tragic.
Not to say that there isn’t a reason to bang your head here. There is, but there’s also room to think about the brain cells you’ve lost along the way. Vernon Manner is at its heart an album of contradictions. Heartstrings are tugged one moment and then shredded into oblivion the next. Sonic pallets are explored and then pulverized, leaving one by the end feeling exhausted, exhilarated, and ready to get back in fucking line.
