Review
Truth Cult
Walk the Wheel

Pop Wig Records (2023) Loren

Truth Cult – Walk the Wheel cover artwork
Truth Cult – Walk the Wheel — Pop Wig Records, 2023

Walk the Wheel is the second LP from Truth Cult, but my first introduction to them. My first impression was that the sound would be loud, aggressive, and chaotic. But with 11 songs total, only the opening song, “Squeeze,” really hits that hardcore-style aggression. The rest is certainly loud and chaotic, but after that song it’s alternately more melodic and ambitious. My real comparison is that this comes from the Embrace and Fugazi songbook, merged with a heavy dose of the Jesus Lizard. It’s heavy and independently minded, but it conveys more complex emotions and unpredictable song structures. I hear a lot of Embrace influence in Truth Cult, but they evolve that sound with a dual vocal, female/male approach that gives call and response and contrasting melodic flourishes. All the while, the vocals are pained and authentic. Truth Cult aren’t clean singing at you. You can tell their throats hurt after making this record.

Guitar rules this record, somewhere between Greg Ginn anxious style and post-punk angular riffs, but always forward-driving. The drumming is a big part of the equation, keeping the chaotic guitar on a forward trajectory. The band goes a little more into riffage territory on slower, more melodic songs.

I really enjoy this whole record. The progressions in “Awake, Asleep” jump out to me, as do the call and response melodies in tracks like “Resurrection” or the dueling melodies of “Unstoppable.” The sound is so tight, I was surprised to learn it’s just their second album. There’s a manic, unpredictable element more in line with noise-rock. Heck, there’s a perfectly placed sax solo in “Ain’t Rubbin’ No Shoulders” and, I think, piano in “Kokaine Kommando.”

This record proves that the punk foundation is as relevant as ever, but the music doesn’t have to be brutally aggressive to make its point. The emotion and spirit are just as powerful without the shirts-off testosterone. Even when the sound wanders, like the more experimental “Heavy Water,” which adds some Sonic Youth squeals into the equation, it’s consistently urgent. A lot of sounds come together on Walk The Wheel, and it works to brilliant effect. It's not just the singers’ voices that sound harsh by the end. The whole sonic onslaught is pleasing to listen to, but it leaves you feeling broken, damaged or at least physically drained. When album closer, “Medicine,” abruptly stops, it emphasizes this uneasiness in all the right ways.

8.5 / 10Loren • March 30, 2023

Truth Cult – Walk the Wheel cover artwork
Truth Cult – Walk the Wheel — Pop Wig Records, 2023

Related news

Time for Truth Cult

Posted in Records on January 14, 2023

Recently-posted album reviews

Painkiller

The Great God Pan
Tzadik (2025)

Painkiller, the trio of John Zorn, Bill Laswell, and Mick Harris shows no signs of slowing down. The Great God Pan is their third full-length, since their reunion in 2024, and in many ways it is an unexpected offering. In keeping with their interests in the metaphysical realm, Painkiller find inspiration from the famed Arthur Machen horror novella. Here, the … Read more

Painkiller

The Equinox
Tzadik (2025)

Painkiller sees three absolute masters of extreme music join forces. John Zorn of Naked City and a billion other projects, Mick Harris who transcended from Napalm Death drummer to illbient guru with Scorn, and producer extraordinaire Bill Laswell. Their first two records, Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets are strange meditations traversing between free-jazz, grindcore and dub. Still hungry … Read more

Dauber

Falling Down
Recess (2025)

The lazy approach would be to call Dauber "ex-Screaming Females," but that barely scratches the surface. If I had to pick one band to namedrop a comparison to, it would be labelmates Night Court. They play a familiar style but with a lot of quirks that set it apart from the genre standard-bearers. It's driving and energetic -- more importantly, … Read more