Wax Idols
About
Wax Idols are a four-piece based out of Oakland, CA. Their sound calls on the mutated aesthetics of varying strains of post-punk (songwriting elements from Batcave-style darkwave and Factory/Rough Trade pioneers, as well as the complex interplay and emotion of post-hardcore), without carbon-copying those who made these maps. Hether Fortune's powerful voice (as the songwriter, arranger, producer, singer and guitarist) is at the center, but this makes no other member of the band a replaceable element. Their work together is what makes Wax Idols' energy these days so vital.
The band’s recent single, 'Everybody Gets What They Want,' is taken from their forthcoming (and fourth) album Happy Ending, set to be released later this year. Happy Ending is a concept album exploring the posthumous consciousness of a fictional protagonist who can still fully perceive the world around herself. “In a grave, just for you,” Fortune sings with a certain slyness, exploring the abstraction & finality of death from both philosophical and personal perspectives. She also sees this album as a way to process increasing anxieties & fear within the current sociopolitical landscape.
This dual theme of political anxiety and personal experience is one Fortune began exploring in seriousness on Wax Idols’ critically-acclaimed third album, American Tragic, which Pitchfork proclaimed “smartly unpacks a pretty universal experience—the sadness, nostalgia, and occasional euphoria involved in letting go of something you once cared about, even when it desperately hurts," and sets that experience within larger American cultural context by giving it a touch of B-movie melodrama. American Tragic will be reissued on the band’s label Etruscan Gold Records, with a limited-edition alternate cover & a remix of the standout single "Deborah" by Wax Idols' own Peter
Lightning.
In addition to Happy Ending and the re-release of American Tragic, 2017 sees Wax Idols touring North America with the recently-reunited Thursday, a strong pairing of groups both known for their unparalleled live performances and unique personal voices. Those voices are raised together in the current political climate, with two ultimatums: dethrone them all, and provide care and compassion for those who need it most.
