Imperial Wax – Gastwerk Saboteurs
Saustex Records
LP / CD / DL
Out Now
Fighting Boredom caught Imperial Wax play in Coventry earlier this year. They blew us away. Made up of the longest standing and last lineup of the Mighty Fall who were together for eleven years before Mark E Smith passed away in 2018. They recruited a new singer in Sam Curran from Black Pudding and they play tight guitar based music for the discerning listener. Fighting Boredom have been listening to the record a lot, this is what we think about it.
There’s slightly offset guitars, jerky abrasive drums and an underlining bass judder that shifts, backtracks and moves awkwardly throughout this record. There’s a raw power that sounds like the band trying to escape from a nailed shut wooden crate. It feels like they have made music together forever, it’s as tight an airlock. But over the top of that the vocals bring everything together and make this record massive.
Right, The Fall then, I’ve got to mention them. They were to many the epitome of English indie, the genius that defined everything else, the cantankerous ravings of a musical genius. I didn’t get it. Never did. Much to the consternation of others. I just didn’t. I saw this lineup in Manchester a couple of years ago. Musically brilliant but I didn’t get it.
Imperial Wax I get. I suppose they are easier to get. I mean it’s not difficult, an off kilter guitar attack moving from frantic thrashy guitar to nasty spitting rockabilly to post punk jitteryness right to a blues psych lament, all just crying out for you to dance, shout and be battered down by. Turn it up loud enough and it’s right there with you, distorting your head and deafening your ears. Add that this is only their first release and you just know you’re never going to see these in a bar on a Saturday night again. Highly recommended.
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Imperial Wax’s website is imperialwax.co.uk, they are on Facebook and Tweet as @ImperialWaxBand.
All words by Adrian Bloxham.
