released April 4, 2014

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It’s Not A Cross, It’s A Curse! is a loud, chaotic racket. Clattering drums, thunderous bass and hairy guitars, with distant vocals howling in plaintive fury somewhere towards an invisible horizon… It’s also full of intricacies, careful arrangements, and precision manoeuvres that turn the rhythm around like a skater swinging on a lamp-post. Somewhere in the liminal zone between total disorder and total organisation, then (what, didn’t you know they were adjacent territories?); and in that fertile terrain WTCHS produce a listening experience that is so intense, so compelling and so uncompromised by any consideration other than their own satisfaction that I for one was hooked on my first listen. Between their fury and their formal compositional concerns they often strike a note of yearning heartache that put me in mind of some of the luminaries of no wave, to which indeed their sound does bear some resemblance, but this is not a band to sit easily within any ready-made genre category, even one as vague and nebulous as that. This is a really good record.
(Oliver Arditi)

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Canadian hexed howlers WTCHS brought out a new EP on Out Of Sound Records. It's Not A Cross, It's A Curse is five songs of feverish, haunting brooders, lurking in the shadows in their own filth. Five lullabies for the insane. Five nightmares of sewer dwelling triumph. Remember Kong? Miss them, right? Here is the legitimate successor. I want to wax lyrical about the maniacal catharsis this brings, but these words will do. Get it NOW - this is one of the best releases of the year, hands down.
(Sonic Masala)

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There are bands that simply excite you and then there are bands that just blow your mind. Hamilton’s WTCHS are definitely the latter. After signing with Sonic Unyon, WTCHS released last month a five-track EP, It’s Not a Cross, It’s a Curse!
The EP is blistering, post-metal rock. Each of the five tracks – “Young Girls”, “Top Prize”, “Over Kilmer”, “Tiger”, and “Neil” – are relentless and exhilarating. However, unlike contemporaries such as Deafheaven, there aren’t any screeching lyrics, but instead the lo-fi drone of twin frontmen and guitarists Jag and Matthew Junk fills each song. They are supported by the shimmering bass of Dave Mater and the electrifying drumming of Tori Tizzard.
The band doesn’t play a live show until NXNE, but shows this summer are expected. Catch them live because the band is well-known for their intense and energetic live shows. As their EPs are mind-blowing, it’s unimaginable what they would sound like live.
(The Revue)