Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Wax Chattels, Captured Tracks 2020.
Here is another find from Bandcamp. Wax Chattels are an Auckland based band who play an interesting post-punk/industrial-grungy rock that is as frenetic as it is intriguing.
Their signing to Brooklyn record label Captured tracks was the result of an interesting happenstance.
Mike Snipe, the founder of the label, happened to be in Auckland at an independent music conference in 2017 when he stumbled across Wax Chattels playing their dark and moody set in a gloomy room on Auckland’s cultural strip.
He could only stay for two songs but he returned the next day and signed them on the spot. It’s the stuff of legends.
Clot is the band’s second album for the label and apparently they’ve taken a different approach than they adopted on their debut release which was recorded ‘as live as possible.’
This time they’ve carefully sculptured the sound to maximize the impact and the result, according to Nick Fulton in his Bandcamp review, is that the record is less like an eruption and more like an earthquake.
Having not heard the earlier album I can only surmise that it must have been pretty explosive because Clot is no shrinking violet when it comes to impact.
The lyrics of the songs explore themes that have occupied the writing of many songwriters during the pandemic; the dislocation, both individually and globally, and interpersonal stress caused by COVID, plus the deplorable lack of leadership shown by some who should know better.
These topics are quite personal for bassist/vocalist Amanda Cheng, being a Kiwi of Asian descent she experiences prejudice, both intentional and unintentional, every day.
Despite the fact that she’s been in NZ since she was four years old she’s constantly asked where she’s from (Taiwan).
How long do you have to be a resident before you’re fully accepted?
While the album is mostly about conflict the disc finishes on an upbeat note.
You Were Right postulates that if we try to listen to others and be more open to alternative views, we’ll find we have more in common than we thought.
