In the words of Dr. Peter Venkman from the 1984 smash Ghostbusters, after seeing the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man heading toward 55 Central Park West, “Well now, there’s something you don’t see every day”. That’s exactly how I felt when I came across Square Wild after entering the parallel doors of their music.
A Manchester-based band that has been around for eight years, Square Wild carries aspects of progressive rock, hard rock, blues, ska, funk, and metal, rolling them all into a delicious strawberry-and-blueberry smoothie with a bit of wasabi in the middle to whet your appetite, something Lucy herself has made for listeners with a fiery response!
I first became aware of them after Prog Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Jerry Ewing, mentioned what he was listening to in issue 173. Right there, I knew I had to check them out to see whether their music would move me or not.
From the moment I put their debut album, Otherling, onto my 32GB reviewing iPod Touch, I was transfixed by its mixture of high-energy intensity and spellbinding beauty. Vocalist, guitarist, and keyboardist Lucy Shevchuk, guitarist Jack Vallance, drummer Tomos Cooper, bassist Benedict Rhodes, and percussionist/synth player Nathan Butcher have brought something truly unique to this debut album.
They only released their debut EP, The Tree-P, back in November 2021, but with Otherling, it feels like a massive, proper cannon blast that completely took me off guard. Square Wild immediately put me into a hypnotic trance. There is a teensy-weensy bit of prog here, but the genres I mentioned earlier are where this band really shows its strength. They show no sign of stopping and certainly aren’t backing down without a fight.
I’ve always had, and always will have, a soft spot progressive rock bands with female vocailsts, from Bent Knee, Purson, Curved Air, Magenta, Renaissance, MoeTar, and Half Past Four. Square Wild are definitely going to be on that list, big time.
Taking its shuffling blues textures and combining them with a slithering, stop-and-go vaudeville powerhouse, ‘The Drifter’ sees Vallance laying down a glam-rock foot-stomp and duck walk while Lucy becomes a drill sergeant in the middle of the song. There’s even a 1940s look that speaks of Veronica Lake from the movie Sullivan’s Travels.
Between Vallance and Cooper, ‘Kill the King’ launches into a punk-rock, fast-paced attitude. When you listen to this track, you almost immediately think of the NWOBHM movement for a brief moment, as they channel Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind era. Square Wild have written what feels like a sequel-like follow-up to ‘Where Eagles Dare’, while reading massive amounts of Marvel Comics to capture the spirit of its characters before the superheroes sold their souls to the corporate falsetto mouse.
The way Vallance handles his guitar is fascinating. He goes from Cardiacs to Janick Gers, and somehow makes the combination work. His crafty fingers take the listener on this speed-racing ride, charging toward the finish line.
The opening number, ‘Shadow Puppets’, sees Lucy playing piano through a Leslie speaker, imagining herself performing in the middle of a war zone in the heart of the two cities from the BioShock universe: Rapture or Columbia.
I wouldn’t compare her voice to Gwen Stefani, because that would be too much of a cop-out. Instead, I hear shades of Diablo Swing Orchestra’s Kristin Evegard. I could tell that Square Wild had listened to a lot of the band’s music for inspiration, especially in the way they carry that cabaret, 1930s/1940s style into their BioPunk attitude.
Lucy channels Alice Cooper through the makeup and reveals her true form during the band’s heyday, breaking free and reigning terror down upon the townsfolk as they run like hell. Taking its cue from Styx’s ‘Renegade’ from Pieces of Eight, ‘Pins and Mould’ is where Square Wild walk into AOR territory, with Vallance channeling Tommy Shaw’s powerful riffs during this cat-and-mouse chase. It brings to mind Bugs Bunny shorts, or even the shorts Bob Clampett created during his time with Warner Bros. and Looney Tunes in the 1940s.
Then the song changes gears, transforming into this whirlpool of terror as it descends deep into the dark layers of Arkham Asylum. You could imagine that they had written this piece during the first week of DC’s Batman: Bad Seeds, where Gotham City has turned into this hostile, pristine jungle for one night.
Once Lucy channels her howling nightmare while honouring Courtney Swain, she becomes this She-Hulk-like monster. But not the Marvel Comics version of She-Hulk, a different type of She-Hulk who will kill, hunt, eat massive amounts of human flesh, and kick someone in the family jewels 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Lucy is one person you don’t want to mess with, big time!
‘Masquerade’ sees Square Wild walking into a ska-like classical orientation through its chanting arrangement, as Lucy reveals her master plan of taking over the world and ruling with an iron fist. Again, you do NOT want to cross her as she pours her heart and soul into her vocal lines. The carousel-like guitar textures make it feel like a twisted merry-go-round nightmare, unveiling a nightmarish universe right before the listener’s eyes.
Those centrepieces are really worth the trip, ladies and gentlemen. I had absolutely no clue what to expect from Square Wild when I first pressed play on Otherling. What I discovered was a band willing to throw progressive rock, hard rock, blues, ska, funk, metal, cabaret, punk, and AOR into the same musical blender and somehow come out with something that feels completely their own.
At this point, Otherling is definitely my album of the year for 2026 so far. Of course, we haven’t reached December yet, so there’s still plenty of time for that to change. But this is a powerful yet eruptive debut from a band that has kept the flag waving and refuses to let it fall.
The Otherling universe has only just opened its doors, and I’m more than ready to step through them again. I can’t wait to see where they take us next.
