Wax Witches is the solo project of Alex Wall, one half of garage poppers Bleeding Knees Club. It’s got a similar sound to BKC but with even grittier guitar work and bratty lyrics. Wax Witches has an online stream of weird and wacky mash-ups linked to pop culture and 90s high life but in the live context it’s pared down to the essentials.
Decked out in his clothing label 100 PERCENT ZERO and self-styled converse, Alex, and his friend standing in on drums, put on a short but energetic live set. On a Friday night the World Bar does usually transform from dance floor into live music venue, which means that the low stage puts the crowd right up near the act.
Shouting “one, two, three, four” to bring in each track it definitely had the vibe of a garage gig. While it wasn’t a sing-a-long affair, some songs had more response than others. “I Hate Matilda” with it’s punkish “nah nah nah’s” was a favourite alongside upbeat “Friend Zone”.
Alex didn’t turn down the reverb in between tracks, making it hard to catch what he was saying. Although after his first song: “You can dance and stuff if you want to,” people did take to bopping up and down. Sometimes, he just threw out abstract vocals in between songs in an alienish warped sound. When a girl shouted for his attention we heard “I love you too!”
The crowd was small and the space even smaller which made it all the more light-humoured and intimate. The show was high energy but not a standout event. You can tell he’s trying to hark back to old punk in style and attitude but at the moment it’s not winning over the masses (or at least those who aren’t familiar with his music). But then again, that’s probably not the point of Wax Witches.
