WAXEATER - EXTRA MEDIUM

Hailing originally from the go-nowhere-do-nothing-get-fat-and-wait-to-die town of Bloomington, IN (only to end up based in the bourbon and barn stretch of Louisville, KY),WAXEATER’s aural assault has exploded garages, crumbled stages, and stressed sound engineers for close to fifteen years. Their newest album titled, "Extra Medium" is the band's third full-length and the 64th release for Phratry Records (est. 2004 Cincinnati, OH).

San Diego Padres-devotee and inimitable frontman Rob Montage, whose tone and riffs are as singular as his yelped and yowled lyrics, uses every inch of his fret board while Elliott Turton’s savage bass locks-in with Aaron Sortman’s gigantic drumkit. Their successful interplay on "Extra Medium" shows that with time comes wisdom. But why the hell would anyone waste a good time with thinking? Over a dozen swirling and dynamic tracks, ferocious verses are coupled with violent, agitated choruses then obliterated by explosive bridges heavy with anguish and rage, but never self-absorbed or serious enough to be called “cathartic.” This is good time music with an extreme fringe and purpose. The underlying goal of, “think a little but prioritize the fun” detonates the speakers.

Extensive touring with dueling Travis Beans in tow, obsessions as varied and curious as Anne Frank and HBO’s “The Wire" [the television masterpiece to which they managed to dedicate the entirety of their 2013 full-length album, "Baltimore Record" (Latest Flame Records, Milwaukee, WI)], and a blackened niche sense of clever humor full of in-jokes and all-caps rants has earned Waxeater a unique group of “followers” (more a street gang than a fan base). Drums the size of bourbon barrels, speaker cabinets that take up more real estate than Detroit, and two madmen front-and-center yields the Waxeater live experience--blistering treble, captivating sonics, and howled vocals by three musicians with a bond tighter than brothers.

What do they sound like? The chords are weird, the bass grinds, and the drums kit doesn’t have any roto-toms. What do they sing about? Beer, baseball, life, Larry. How many records do they have? One new one, two old ones, an old EP and a split 7". Is it noise rock? With a groove that’s more like a gutter. It’s Noise-Grunge.

In two words : Very Recommended !  

Links:

https://waxeater.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/waxeater
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2qS1BufpJcLTFj8XqQWQth