Clot. Wax Chattels

Relentless, without compromise, all consuming. Just a few words that come into my head listening to Clot for the first time. If there's room in my head left to think while undergoing the new album of Wax Chattels. The two preceding singles of the album had prepared me a little for what was to come. Having missed the band's debut album, I had no clue what to expect when I put on 'No Ties' somewhere last summer.

What I do notice, is that I think Clot is so much better than I had expected it to be. Somewhere deep down in some of the songs a song can be mined that is worthwhile listening to. Including the package of course.

Oddly enough, the album starts as if a song by AC/DC is introduced, seconds long a loud guitar noise is all there is to hear, until the singer shouts out something in a punk style and a drum kicks in that is in a universe of its own. What transpires next is a mix of A Place To Bury Strangers and The Sweet Release of Death and a machine gun being fired from a drum kit. Both bands I saw play live once, so I can imagine what 'Glue' will sound like from a stage. More deadly blows than music. 'Glue' isn't music in the traditional sense. This is not a song but a necessity, something that had to be exorcised by or even out of the three musicians. 

When I was really surprised, is when I read that there's no guitar played in Wax Chattles. A bass guitar, keyboards and a two piece drum kit. That's all. And a million effects on the bass for sure. Wax Chattles is from Auckland in New Zealand. Peter Ruddell and Amanda Cheng started "to make some noise together" in 2016 and after writing some demos brought in drummer Tom Leggett. This resulted in a debut, eponymously titled album in 2018, becoming a top 10 hit in the album charts over there. Come 2020 and the band is ready for the second leg of its career, after honing the songs for about a year. The result is like it, if you've read my opening lines.

Both Ruddell and Cheng sing. Cheng sings like many female punk singers do: shrilly shouting, close to over the top, totally present. Ruddell contrasts with his darker voice but often also in a punk style, sneery, vile, angry. In the more surprising moments they sing. At times they are more a presence than singers.

I can imagine a moshpit responding to each and every whipping sound from the drums and band as a whole. The rhythms are an intricate piece of work, involving a lot of counting to make sure they all play the accents at the right moment. And from this factory of noise all of a sudden a melody escapes, setting a song on fire in a different way.

Is Clot good? I have no idea to be honest. It is of an overwhelming presence, overflowing my senses, becoming omnipresent. The album is impressive. At the same time I hear the talent of the band overall and to create a song underneath that monolith of sound.

The band worked a year to create the songs. At the same time an element of what is seeming experimentation still hangs over the songs. A sign of the musical strength of Wax Chattles. It may well be that I add a chattle to my huge collection of music chattles, in the form of Clot. What I know for certain is that if we are ever able to go to concerts again, I will pass Wax Chattles by. It will be an overload of my brain, just like with the two bands I mentioned above, but what an experience it was. So is Clot.

Wo.

You can listen to and order Clot here:

https://waxchattels.bandcamp.com/album/clot

or listen to our Spotify Playlist to find out what we are writing about:

https://open.spotify.com/user/glazu53/playlist/6R9FgPd2btrMuMaIrYeCh6?si=KI6LzLaAS5K-wsez5oSO2g