The female fronted punk outfit Wound, comes barreling out fast and furious on its new CD, Out 4 Blood, with a supersonic rift and angst ridden vocal ranting on "Brainstem Only." However, this isn't your standard 12-song 20 minute set of punk flavored' fillers, but instead a punk record full of melody, fury, insight and hope. Not to be categorized as soley as another Riot Grrl act, Wound does include two males in the band, Jaye Barnes on bass and Ryan Hulbert on drums, along with Linda Werbelow on vocals, Sondra Menthers on guitar and Drama Arthur On vocals. Of course, this doesn't mean that Wound doesn't have strong opinions and lots of attiude that comes through in its music. The Group's lyrics are direct and razor sharp, and aim more for the cause of helping empower women and bringing light to other social ills.
Musically, Wound has much in common with other notable Riot Grrl acts such as L7, Babes in Toyland and Sleater Kinney, an added bonus being that both Werbelow and Arthur can sing and carry a tune and the rest of the band can play its instruments solidly. This is most evident on two of the slower, mid-tempo songs, "Goodbye" and "Comatose Love. Other tracks such as "Isolationist" and "Naked Greek Men" bring to mind early Ramones with Joan Jett fronting, and are full of punk rock bravado and fast scruffy guitars. Don't let the words punk and Riot Grrl scare you because Wound has something to say but still with a swagger. -Steve Riskin