Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Atrocity Girl – “Ego Fix”

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Levi Fuller

Atrocity Girl‘s “Ego Fix” is a powerful call to arms against patriarchy, focusing on the rampant misogyny in media by alternating each verse with samples of various right wing blowhard spouting anti-feminist and anti-woman nonsense. As hard as it is to hear these hateful, moronic soundbites in the context of the song, I can only imagine the soul-crushing labor of clicking through hours of idiots on YouTube to find just the “right” clips.

Countering all this is the song itself, a heavy, yet uplifting slab of post-grunge featuring Johnny-Angel’s impassioned and ferocious voice. Her words and delivery pull you right into the struggle with every phrase, ending each chorus with a scream that reaches right into your chest and grabs your heart. The band is right there with her every step of the way, meeting each moment with the righteous fury it deserves.

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Gemini Affinity – “Dig in Deeper”

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Jon Rooney

Gemini Affinity, an elusive project with minimal online presence, bring a
mysterious air of mid-tempo guitar sophistication with “Dig in Deeper.” The song seems to float like smoke, with a clean electric guitar sitting atop the dreamy vocals for most of the song. While the lyrics are tough to make out with the way the vocals are mixed, the song has a decidedly witchy feel, though in a white magick, “let’s camp on the beach” kind of way. It’s a well-produced, well-played track with a groovy little bass and synth breakdown a little after the mid-point that adds some nice dynamic variety. It definitely leaves me wanting more, so let’s hope there more on the horizon from this band.

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Gender Envy – “Mads Mikkelsen”

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Jon Rooney
Mads

“I used to be a gymnast.”

Give Seattle’s Gender Envy any and all awards for best song title with “Mads Mikkelsen,” which I hope is just the start of a deluge of multidisciplinary tributes to the iconic Danish actor, former gymnast, and dancer (that’s right, you read the last two parts correctly – now pick yourself up off the floor). Like its title subject, the song is steeped in a sort of dark classicism, with its ominous guitar vamp and goth torch singing. Gender Envy seems to be exploring high period Hole with a dusting of Bauhaus, an unabashed return to devil-horns and smeared eye-liner RAWK that feels novel nowadays. Tons of young bands are working through the Pavement and Breeders catalogs, not so many Love-era Cult and, frankly, I’m here for it. If you walk into a club and hear a song that sounds like “Mads Mikkelsen,” be prepared for bathrooms painted top-to-bottom jet black and at least one bartender with a backstory best unexplored.

Catch Gender Envy live this Friday at the Ball of Wax 70 release show at Southgate Roller Rink!

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Ball of Wax 70 songs: Kitty Junk – “Kitty Kitty Kat”

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Levi Fuller

Kitty Junk is yet another duo that refuses to let their small numbers limit the heaviness and power of their music. Ryan manages to deliver the depth and breadth of two guitars and bass (even live, as I have witnessed), and Angela seemingly thrashes the drum kit to within an inch of its life in support of every last riff. Ryan’s vocal range is another highlight here; she growls and screams her way through this blistering anthem, achieving junk punk perfection without seeming like she’s even trying – which is, of course, the hardest part.

Kitty Junk’s fearless devotion to self-expression, empowerment, and spectacle is both something to admire and something to rock the fuck out to. Do yourself a favor and catch them live before the venues they’re playing catch up to the size of their sound.

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: 9​-​5 Hyperfuck – “At Time of Recording (2023) LTJ Bukem is 56 Years Old”

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Levi Fuller

My first exposure to the immersive onslaught of 9-5 Hyperfuck was when Death Spa played our first show with them at Nii Modo, a former Bartell Drugs in downtown Seattle that has been converted to a beautifully post-apocalyptic performance space and gallery. It was the perfect setting for this night of dark, heavy, super-queer music, exemplified by the live electronic bludgeoning delivered upon us all by this phenomenal duo. If you don’t have the time to enjoy them live at an anarchic arts co-op in a dystopian downtown setting,  “At Time of Recording (2023) LTJ Bukem is 56 Years Old” (which, incidentally, is an early contender for Best Song Title of 2024) does a good job of compressing the experience into just under three minutes. Strange, synthesized noises swirl, hand-played electronic drums hammer and pulse, an insistent voice intones – and absolutely EVERYTHING is distorted and louder than it should be, but you should probably turn it up even louder before you play it again.

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Djime – “RIP Temnospondyli”

Posted on January 26, 2024 by Michele Khazak

I fear I lack the appropriate jargon to describe just how deep the groove is in this wild experimental electronic piece from Djime. As I listen I am unable to curb the compulsion to do a weird head bobbing, shoulders swaying, fingers gesturing chair dance. It starts with a super catchy, gritty, and fast moving bass line. It hooked me from my first initial listen. What else am I hearing? Drums, guitars, synths, and more. Each individual element both wonderfully complements and delightfully applies pressure to the whole. You’re definitely in the pocket, but the pocket you’re in belongs to a galloping, extinct, prehistoric beast – and you’re having a really great time. Hold on tight, turn it up loud, do an interpretive dance, and enjoy.

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Nic Masangkay – “Star”

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Levi Fuller

Nic Masangkay‘s contribution to Ball of Wax 70 is a compelling slice of dark electronic pop that plumbs the depths of heartbreak and lost love, and returns to the surface as a gleaming star. As Nic pivots seamlessly between the floating melodic hook and the rapid-fire delivery of each verse, the song feels by turns mournful and defiant, perfectly reflecting the whipsawing emotions of any loss. As always, Nic’s vocal range and raw, honest lyrics are the centerpiece here, but their songwriting and production are top-notch as well. The inexorable pulse of the kick drum carries us through as layers of synth and other sounds phase in and out in response to the melody, resulting in a moody soundscape that grabs your attention and keeps it until the last notes fade out. 

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Kihalás – “Potnia Theron”

Posted on January 24, 2024 by Levi Fuller

One thing I love about having someone else curate Ball of Wax (again, a thousand thank-yous to curator extraordinaire Mia Rose Malone for the job she’s done assembling volume 70) is that I’m exposed to bands, sounds – hell, entire genres – that likely wouldn’t have made their way to my ears otherwise. I pride myself on the genrelessness of this series – we’ve had some heavy, experimental, and dark music here and there over the years – but a few of the projects on this volume are a whole new level of sonic intensity, and I am loving it.

Which brings us to the pummeling barrage of orchestrated mayhem that is “Potnia Theron.” The two members of Kihalás fuse multi-amped guitar, drums, and their voices together into a through-composed monolith of sound, that despite the many changes and breakneck tempo, manages to weave an almost trance-inducing soundscape. Over six or so minutes, if you let yourself, you may look deep inside yourself and journey millennia back (or forward) through the ages to stand awestruck before Potnia Theron, “Mistress of Animals, called Artemis Orthia, Cybele, Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, and others.” Thank you, Kihalás, for taking us on this voyage, and thank you Mia for bringing Kihalás into the Ball of Wax fold.

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Rainbow Coalition Death Cult – “Phat Pig”

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Levi Fuller

After cooling down for a few tracks, Ball of Wax 70 kicks back into high gear with Rainbow Coalition Death Cult‘s “Phat Pig,” a slice of old school hardcore punk that makes Body Count’s “Cop Killer” sound like a goofy outtake from Cop Rock in comparison. (I’m also quite certain that none of the members of RCDC will go on to sympathetically portray cops on popular tv shows, so they have that going for them too.) The ruthlessly cycling guitars are supported by a rhythm section that hits you with the solidity of a deadfall on asphalt, and the vocals deliver their revenge-fantasy lyrics with a brutality and sincerity borne of oppression and horror. Their entire album United States of Amnesia is a must-listen for anyone interested in punk music that matters, and I sincerely hope they deem us worthy of another one before too long.

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Ball of Wax 70 Songs: Marbits – “From Such a Distance”

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Alisha Baker

The bedroom pop single “From Such a Distance” is a collaboration of two artists: Nickle Taniguchi (Marbits) and Left @ London. Marbits is an Asian American Pacific Islander, queer, non-binary artist from Seattle, WA. “From Such a Distance” is a song about ADHD and relationships. It has an alluring and playful bounce to the melody in cooperation with a relatable heaviness pulling you in from the lyrics. This is a very powerful and a very beautiful song! Taniguchi gracefully tells a story of the real life impact that ADHD can have on relationships. Personally, I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, and this song really speaks to the conversations that I’ve had with family members and friends. It also echoes that latent fear of falling too far down. From my experience of spending many years perfecting the art of masking, and dealing with the real impact of maladaptive daydreaming, I find Nickle’s words to be beautiful, affecting, and accurate: “Try to be a little more concise, love. I’ve got a lot on my mind. 35 things I’ve neglected to do. And I’m all out of time. But I’m floating around. I’m letting you down like you wouldn’t believe.”

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