Western Education’s sharp pop anthems often come off as a saloon shoot-out between those bitter rivals known as synths and guitars, leaving behind a glowing trail of melodic bloodshed that stretches brightly from here to Lowell.
The young Massachusetts quartet seems to get more ambitious with each release, and Vanyaland is proud to premiere their latest single, the frenzied, reach-for-the-pop-revolver track “Rivals.”
There are a lot of musical elements here that take aim at the stale state of FM radio: Bits of Muse and the Killers add the guitar edge, but equal parts Katy Perry and Madonna also work their way into the fray, pulling things back off the brink of lose-control rockness with a swift shine towards cruising-altitude synth-pop.
If pop music is a battlefield, Western Education know their weapons well.
Choose your side, check out “Rivals” below, and catch West Ed live at Church on November 3 with New York’s Junior Prom. Tickets are available here.
