Wax Cannon – Valve / 2005 Commie Martyr Records / 12 Tracks / http://www.waxcannon.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 29 March 2005

As “Valve” rolls on, the fact that Wax Cannon has been around for six years really shows in the maturity and solid formation of their instrumental arrangements. Tracks like “Lose Your Happy Home” show the band as influenced heavily by the early-nineties alternative rock scene more than anything, and the band’s diverse array of influences draws them in twelve distinct and different paths over the whole of “Valve”. “Better For The Room They Have” looks back to the boy-bands of the fifties and sixties while simultaneously using tempestuous arrangements to increase the urgency that is attached to the track. What really comes as a shock to me is that something that varies so much in such a short CD is created entirely by two individuals. Their skill is such that they can experiment and test out new things mid-stream and not have to account for other band mates.

Even if there are a few stumbling blocks, such as the pedestrian distortion on the guitar during “Same Mistakes”, Wax Cannon makes sure to not make those same mistakes anywhere on the disc. For example, “Too Many Orange Books”, immediately following “Same Mistakes”, taps the well one more time in terms of aligning themselves vocally with seventies-era Neil Young. This comparison becomes only stronger in the slower-tempoed and more contemplative “Starvation Plank”. However, the build-up in the middle of the track finds Wax Cannon using their artist paintbrush sparingly – glaring emptinesses confront listeners at every turn, and the vocals are much too tenuous to make a strong case for the track. The intensity of prior tracks comes back in a big way with the noisy and hard-rocking “It’s a Crime”. The fuzz attempts to dominate the track, but the vocals present during it really shine through in spite of the noise.

There is no distinct sound for “Valve”, but rather Wax Cannon makes a number of artistic pirouettes and twists, allowing for the widest array of individuals to enjoy in the disc. The mastering on the disc is a little dry and detached, but the warmth and experience of the band shines through in spite of that. Wax Cannon ends the disc masterfully with “Spleen pt 2”, using a vacillating tone to really writ small their entire disc in less than four minutes of music. The disc is not perfect, but really is an evolutionary process in which the band tries new things continually – minor slip-ups are bound to happen, but Wax Cannon is one of the few bands that can pull it off in the end.

Top Tracks: It’s A Crime, Spleen Part 2

Rating: 6.5/10