1,454 WILDERNESS STATES, Salvador Scott, Swindon The Castle, Thursday 23rd July 2026

 

Another one close to home, this, which suits my petrol consumption and carbon footprint, I guess! This time it’s for one of local gig impresario Ed Dyer’s “Songs Of Praise” Thursday Night Music Club events at the Old Town’s venerable Castle pub, tonight’s musical hosts being Oxford 5-piece Wilderness States. I’d received enough recommendations from learned gig colleagues (Ed himself, Beef, plus Oxford based mate Rich Craven) to check them out; they initially took a minute to land with me, but a couple more listens (at the gym earlier in the day!) started to unpeel the onion and reveal an alt-rock band of stately grandeur and promise. As ever, however, the acid test is “live”, so let’s see…

Drove up the hill, meeting Beef and mate Jas in the car park, plus Facebook friend Geoffrey, the “Head” of music and a fine gent to whom even my head must bow, in terms of knowledge and enthusiasm for “live” music (one of only 2 folks I’d admit that about, the other one also being called Jeff!)! We hit the Castle, taking seats in the back room and chatting as the band soundchecked. Another plus point for tonight’s gig for me was support Salvador Scott, former vocalist of locals Nostromo (a band I meant to see but the stars never aligned) but more importantly, the son of my old school friend (and occasional member of our curry table, despite living in Reading these days) Michael! Armed with a battered old acoustic, Salvador played a charming solo set veering from pastoral lo-fi indie evoking Scots Big Star acolytes such as The Vaselines, BMX Bandits et al (viz. opener “Fireflies”) to late 60’s post-psychedelia LA Laurel Canyon folk rock, via “Laika Shooting Star” which had an offbeat, quintessentially English 60’s Kinks vibe. A couple of well-chosen covers, particularly The Stone Roses’ “Fools Gold” (which required – and got! – some dextrous and intricate picking) enlivened his set, as did his deadpan and dismissive between song banter (“I hate the opening lines [to “Laika..”] so I’m going to sing them quietly” and “everyone having a good time? And it’s going to get better; but not if I play that…!” being two examples) and general mannerisms, which reminded me so strongly of my similarly offbeat and unique old friend, a point I made to Salvador afterwards… 

Thanks to Ed for this pic of Salvador... I forgot to take one myself!

A quick turnaround saw the headliners take the stage at 9.30 in front of a score or so interested parties, kicking in with the discordant opening of “Mighty Thames” which, like it’s titular subject, meandered through a changing stop-start landscape of melodic melancholy. The subsequent “Piece Of Mine” had a more dramatic build towards a widescreen soaring chorus with strident vocalist Shauna Reed’s impressive pipes a feature, more aptly setting the tone for the set. 

I’d initially baulked on Wilderness States as I thought I heard shades of The Cranberries in their sound (a band I never got on with at all), but happily repeated listens, plus tonight’s performance, proved first impressions can be wide of the mark. The Wilderness States modus operandi is instead more akin to the wallowing bedsit ennui of The National or “Bends”-era Radiohead (i.e. before they got all pretentious and prog on us), with backbeat drum patterns and shimmering, intricate guitar work weaving a hazy, dolorous atmosphere, before more dramatic builds to windswept, epic choral hooks and louder crescendo outros, powered by Shauna’s sonorous tones, which often recall the propulsive yet dispassionate tones of a Siouxsie or a Florence. It’s serious stuff – they’re not likely to cover “Shiny Happy People” any time soon – but the blend of strident atmospheric melancholy gives their sound an epic grace and poise. “Eden”’s brooding, understated verse nevertheless ceded to a trademark big chorus; “The Capture” tested Shauna’s vocals with a lengthy choral note which was held immaculately; and, following Shauna’s remark of, “we’re only halfway through! This is the longest set we’ve ever played!”, a more morose and elegiac “Don’t Try Falling” was my set highlight thus far, the keyboard flourishes leading into a typically dramatic denouement, the band commenting, “that’s as depressing as it gets – it’s uphill from here!”

 The penultimate “Black White Red”, a slight outlier with a more upbeat, pseudo Goth tinge almost recalling 2:54 or Desperate Journalist’s more contemplative moments, probably pipped “Don’t Try Falling” for me, but overall this was an impressively delivered set of well-constructed and atmospheric numbers from a band I’d like to see more often. Quick chats with guitarist Matty (who’d called me out for making notes during the set!) and a lengthier one with Ed, before I scooted down the hill and home. Wilderness States are back in the ‘don for the Autumn Shuffle – I’ll be doing my damndest to make sure I’m there too!