Imperial Wax
Imperial Wax | |
|---|---|
 Imperial Wax at Left of the Dial festival Rotterdam, 2019 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | Noise rock, Post-punk |
| Labels | Saustex Records |
| Members |
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| Website | imperialwax |
Imperial Wax are a British alternative rock band, formed in 2018. Guitarist Pete Greenway, bassist Dave Spurr and drummer Keiron Melling previously played together in the final line-up of the long-established post-punk group The Fall. After the death of the Fall's vocalist and band-leader Mark E. Smith, the trio recruited vocalist and guitarist Sam Curran to form Imperial Wax.[1] The band describe themselves as, "noise rock & garage brawlers unafraid of a psych workout or a rockabilly dust-up."[2]
Formation
Greenway, Spurr and Melling had been the instrumental core of the Fall's line-up for over a decade when Mark E. Smith died in January 2018.[1] After Smith's death, the trio played their first live gig as the backing band to former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki in Salford in May of the same year.[3] They were then joined by Curran, formerly of Leeds-based punk band Black Pudding,[1][3] naming themselves after the first Fall album that they had worked on together, 2008's Imperial Wax Solvent.[4] They played their first show as a four-piece at The Troubadour, London, in February 2019.[4]
Gastwerk Saboteurs
The band's debut album, Gastwerk Saboteurs was recorded with Andy Pearce, the former in-house producer at Real World Studios, and released in May 2019 on the Texas-based label Saustex Records.[5] The album was released on vinyl (including a limited edition of 150 copies on pink vinyl), CD and digital,[6] with the CD and digital versions including three extra tracks. A limited edition, lathe-cut clear vinyl 7" single of two of the tracks, "The Art of Projection"/"No Man's Land", was released around the same time.[6]
The album received generally positive reviews from the music press. The Arts Desk described it as, "storming stuff with a sneering wit and a thump that’s aimed firmly at getting listeners on their feet",[7] while The Big Takeover said, "the band succeeds at every approach it attempts. With a combination of solid musicianship, smart songwriting and sparkling interband chemistry, Imperial Wax easily makes the case for not only being a reasonable outgrowth of its much-beloved predecessor, but also as a great new band in its own right."[8]
Imperial Wax quickly followed the album with more new material. A 7" single, "Bromidic Thrills"/"Bloom & Wither", was released on limited edition red vinyl by Louder Than War in October 2019.[9]
Discography
Albums
- Gastwerk Saboteurs (2019), Saustex Records
Singles
- "The Art of Projection"/"No Man's Land" (2019), Saustex Records
- "Bromidic Thrills"/"Bloom & Wither" (2019), Louder Than War
References
- ^ a b c "The Fall And Rise: An Interview With Imperial Wax".
- ^ "WATCH: New Imperial Wax".
- ^ a b "Damo Suzuki Meets Imperial Wax (AKA The Fall)!".
- ^ a b "IMPERIAL WAX REVIEW – Troubadour, Earl's Court, London, Live, 01-02-2019".
- ^ "Imperial Wax (the last and longest line up of The Fall) announce album and tour and are sounding great".
- ^ a b "Saustex Records: Imperial Wax".
- ^ "CD: Imperial Wax - Gastwerk Saboteurs".
- ^ "Imperial Wax - Gastwerk Saboteurs (Saustex)".
- ^ Leyland, Anthea (24 October 2019). "Imperial Wax share a brand new video for the new single "Bromidic Thrills", tour dates underway". Rarely Unable. Retrieved 7 November 2019.