What do we have here? You mean there are actually some youths from that godforsaken cheese covered land of Favre that actually don't want to play 2002-era metalcore or "Yo Motherfucker" bro hardcore? This is almost worth a trip to Wisconsin to check these kids out. Luckily, Wholehearted live close enough to the Mississippi that play here in Minnesota almost monthly and I don't have to do anything drastic, like step foot in America's dairyland, anytime soon.
What Wholehearted does play is hardcore just begging for a Deathwish record deal. You've heard this band under other names like Blacklisted or more than likely Life Long Tragedy. I for one am burnt out on this sound. I only can only listen to the bands on Deathwish themselves rather than their legions of facsimiles that apparently can come from the remote parts of the Earth. Hell, they can even come from Wisconsin. Wisconsin...what do you think of when you think of Wisconsin? The Dells? Fuck that overpriced water slide/party zone mistake. Most likely you think of Jeffrey Dahmer or any other of human nut cases this state has produced over the years. People go nuts...really batshit nuts in Wisconsin. It's a documented fact. It probably has less to do with the horrible weather and isolation than it has to with the quality of hardcore that this state has produced in the last two decades. At least for me.
Anyhow, enough of ragging on Wisconsin. More talk about Reclaim. Well, what can I say? Wholehearted play tuneful hardcore with all the token two step and mosh parts to satisfy any kid out there that hasn't heard a hardcore record before 1999. "Second Chances" is my favorite speedy ditty on Reclaim. It almost wants to be Strung Out trying to outrace Champion with Have Heart coming in a distant third. It's like watching those Wiener races at Brewers games. Okay, really it's not, but this song is really good. Hell it's even got a good sing along part.
Wholehearted is a new hardcore band I can see going places if they are heard by the right ears. They play their youthful hearts out every time I see them and never seem to stop touring. They play that type of hardcore that kids just can not get enough of lately. Once again if this your cup of cheese curds then by all means chow down. I even ripped it to my computer for future listens. Reclaim is a decent debut album by a bunch of decent kids filling their ranks even though they are from Wisconsin.
