The Wax Museums

Eye Times (2011)

Rich Cocksedge

The Wax Museums have obviously spent some time listening to bands like the Angry Samoans and the Dickies, both of which were able to churn out silly, snotty punk rock tunes without breaking a sweat. However, I'd imagine a mighty-high opinion of the Ramones also features somewhere in the band's collective psyche given the number of times I heard related influences on this, their sophomore album. On Eye Times, the Wax Museums do their best to entertain with a level of humour that is applied with the help of a battering ram-like approach, with subtlety taking a backseat, but with some great tunes backing up the delivery.

The music is equal parts punk rock, garage punk and new wave, with hints of pop in the mix too. It creates a highly listenable and energised album that sounds as if it could almost have been written back in the late 1970s/early 1980s, although it's probably too well-produced for that era.

The intent to have a good time, musically, can sometimes leave bands falling flat on their faces, but here the Wax Museums manage to land nicely on their feet, which is in no small way helped by their ability to write catchy, snappy songs with melody aplenty. Throw in some variety and what you've got is a pretty decent album, which would probably come across even better in a live setting.

Out of the 13 tracks, there are a handful of standouts, including the excellent "Mad Gasser", "Mosquito Enormo", "Sunburn" (featuring the line "Don't slap me on the back, I can't wear a backpack, because I've got…sunburn," which had me chuckling to myself) and "Breakfast for Dinner", an ode to wanting sex instead of food. Crude? Yes. Amusing? Highly.

Apparently the band has been on a lengthy hiatus, and whether this has helped them with the writing and production of this gem, who knows. All that matters is that it is out there and well worth tracking down.