Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Country: USA
Genre: Experimental
Single: 420
Format: Digital
Label: Electric Talon Records (USA)
Release date: May 23, 2025
When I last commented on Wax Mekanix, I mentioned that he is more deeply well-rounded than normal. As on the deluxe edition of "Mobocracy", he strives to create commercially viable music while renewing himself in new ways.
His latest tune "420" has a pop-punk flavor that I don't recall from his previous work. Only this feeling is more reminiscent of Elvis Costello and Cheap Trick than most bland pop punk from years past. Here he credits TV programming of his early youth like "Josie and the Pussycats", "Banana Splits" and "Scooby-Doo" with inspiring him.
Accessible as it sounds, particularly in the vocally harmonized chorus, it is supported by bulky and atmospheric production corresponding to the stoner, industrial, EBM, and psychedelic elements of "Psychotomimetic" and "Mobocracy". Though commercial and classic rock has always figured in his music one way or the other, he can work them in in unexpected ways.
Incorporating bands that inspired his expressiveness, rather than blatantly imitating them, enriches his songs and reveals new aspects of his nature, "420" was created in five separate recording studios and has a more cheerful vibe with the darker influences indicated above. I'm not sure if it's an ode to a relationship or to smoking cannabis, but I suppose it can be interpreted both ways.
A single with pop punk catchiness, industrial music's linear violence, and hallucinogenic, mind-bending tonality is a unique combination of themes and a fitting demonstration of how multiple musical styles can coexist. I could tell Wax Mekanix had a good time working on this song, and as before, the finished product piqued my interest in what he might create next. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Wax Mekanix: Lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitars, drums, percussion
Lectriq: Kayboards, backing vocals
Tom Altman: Electric guitars, backing vocals, bass
Chris Bishop: Electric guitars
Barney Cortez: Electric guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, bass
Rob Devious: Bass
Brandon Yeagley: Backing vocals
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