Page 27 - the Noise March 2017 Edition

& ‘ROUND THE GLOBE
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MR. WAX
“wax city” 7-inch
(Lumpy Records)
Sometimes a record comes out of nowhere and you have wonder ... what the heck is go- ing through this guy’s mind? Hehe ... Well, the mysterious Mr. Wax indeed walks among us in human form and is apparently an Arizona na- tive, lurking somewhere in Phoenix. Maybe he got a little too much sun at some point be- cause this record is quite something. I love the fact I am struggling to make any comparisons. (Originality is always a good thing, right?).
Mr. Wax performs with a lumpen jittery drum machine, some ham-fisted single note analog keyboard, a bit of bass guitar (which is actually the only almost-accomplished ele- ment of his songs), and tops it all off with a deadpan and somewhat undecided vocal de- livery. The only thing that comes to mind is a lo-fi Devo. Possibly. Or possibly not.
Our Waxy friend treads the delicate line be- tween inspired and WTF. And I love it! Six short tracks. I’m not sure who Mr. Wax thinks his potential audience would be (or if he would even care), as this is released on the usually straightforward guitar based lo-fi punk label, Lumpy Records. Which I assume may raise a few eyebrows among the regular Lumpy Punks. Not sure if my tolerance level would hit
a wall consuming a whole LP’s worth of his stuff, but for now it’s quirky and weird enough that I’m digging it.
GIRLS WANNA BOP
ROCKIN’ GIRLS FROM THE LATE ‘50s
(Croydon Municipal / Cherry Red)
With the exception of Hip Hop, in terms of genre, Rockabilly is one big (white) male dominated area. If we take Wanda Jackson out of the equation, it is noted that very few female musicians of that era were even taken seriously or achieved financial returns for their efforts. Or indeed were ever consid- ered on equal footing for their often supe- rior musical forays. This is of course nothing new, and continues today in terms of wage inequality and CEO placement, but this may also explain why so many of the ladies on this compilation only ever made one crack- ing 45-single and then disappeared into ob- scurity (or possibly motherhood).
This is a genuine shame for many music lovers. Take for example the CD’s opener “Flipsville” by Stormy Gayle. I lament the fact Ms. Gayle never made another record. Her brassy vocals smolder and crackle alongside sultry twangy guitar. This should have been a #1 smash! Not resigned to an obscure regional indie pressing of just 500 copies at the time.
The same rings true of “Black Cadillac” by
Joyce Green. A gleeful tale in which Joyce
passionately recalls riding to her lover’s fu-
neral in a big old car. It’s a daring proto-feminist call-to-arms for the time. And it’s a darn fine tune to boot. This one song alone makes this compilation a must hear. But wait! There’s more!
Sun Records, arguably home to the birth of Rockabilly (mainly thanks to one Elvis Aaron Presley), was almost exclusively male (and white) in its commercial output; label owner Sam Phillips rarely daring to stick a woman in front of a microphone. The one
exception at the time was Barbara Pittman, an apparent neighbor of Elvis,(which probably got her foot in the door at Sun Records). Regardless, “Sentimental Fool” is a classic, and another compilation highlight. In truth, there’s not a duffer among the 25 carefully chosen tracks. It is compiled by Bob Stanley from St. Ettienne. Most enjoyable from start to fin- ish, and well worth seeking out.
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