wilt Write a Letter Home on “when no one’s watching”
A grunge-leaning debut that turns grief into volume, made by four friends who learned to play as one machine.
Chelsea Rifkin’s late father wrote for the LA punk zine ink disease, and her parents ran a record store out of their garage. When wilt made their debut album, she knew exactly who it was for. “This album specifically is a letter to my dad in the way of music, literally.”
“Chelsea is the fuselage, Aaron and I are the engines… And Dan is the fuel.”
Andy Vance, to EARMILK
The Album
when no one’s watching came out October 2 through AWAL, eleven songs produced by Carlos de la Garza, whose credits include Paramore and The Linda Lindas. After three months of pre-production, wilt recorded most of it live in three days at NRG Recording Studios. That is a fast, brave way to make a first album, and it keeps the songs sounding like a band in a room rather than a pile of perfect takes.
Andy Vance calls “dent” “the thesis statement of the album,” and says it came together in an hour or two. “bundy” has been around longer. The band played it on every set of their first US tour, opening for Remo Drive in 2024. As for the title, Vance put it best when the album was announced: “it’s what it feels like when no one’s watching and you’re still struggling.”
The Band
wilt is Chelsea Rifkin on vocals, Aaron Liebman and Andy Vance on guitars, and Dan Bermudez on drums. The story starts with Rifkin’s mom, who hired Liebman to produce her daughter’s early bedroom-pop songs. When Rifkin came home from art school in Chicago in 2022, the band took shape, and their first TikTok picked up “like a million views overnight.” Their song “bite my tongue” has since passed nine million Spotify streams.
Underneath all of that is family. Rifkin grew up around her father’s punk writing and a garage full of records, and she has said plainly that this album is for him. You can hear why it matters so much. These songs are loud, and there is a lot of tenderness under the volume.
Start Here
Start with “dent,” the song the band calls its thesis. Then play “bundy” and picture it opening every night of that first tour. It is a debut with a lot of love in it, and a fitting letter home.
Photo
Sarah Heiseman.
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