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Straight outta the Motor City, these guys write and play songs that sound like Nuggets outtakes ...they sound like the Stones circa December's Children and Aftermath, with interlocking, garage-bred electric guitars like Keef 'n' Brian useta play ...recombine this DNA with Beatles bounce, Byrds harmonies or Who power chords. - Eye Weekly
Detroit's Waxwings live and breathe classic rock's roots. That's undeniable upon first, second and tenth spins of their third album, Let's Make Our Descent. Chunky Stones-ish riffs flow throughout, and there are moments that recall bands from the Kinks to Buffalo Springfield. In this immersion into the retro, however, the Waxwings come off more on the side of originality than rip-off. The album opens with a straightforward riff rocker with Eighties melodic sensibility, an appropriate breed to introduce the band's sound. Two of the album's strongest tracks, "All the Fuss" and "Answer to Me," highlight Dean Fertita and Dominic Romano's perfectly meshed vocal dynamic amidst squirming guitar parts. The dreamy acoustic charm in "Of Late" provides a well-sequenced, lightly psychedelic break from the meatiness of previous tunes. Ultimately, the Waxwings capture an intensity and uniformity on record that likely makes them force to be reckoned with live, a fitting next step for any allured listener.
DOUGLAS WATERMAN
(Posted Sep 14, 2004)
- Rolling Stone
Discography
Lets Make Our Decent - 2003
Shodows of The Waxwings - 2002
Low To The Ground - 2001
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Bio
Detroit quartet The Waxwings aren't straight outta the garage. Rather they've perfected their sonic alchemy of late 60's Rolling Stones, vocal weavings of Buffalo Springfield and the Parson-age of eight mile high flights of fancy in the deepest of basements, bringing a sound to an audience starved for the affection of passionate craftsmen at the peak of their powers.
In Detroit's storied burnt-out landscape, you have to know where to look to find things of great beauty and originality. Here kindred spirits stick together, support each other, bonded in the same dynamic of creative survival defined by a bleak city in which community spirit is rebuilt building-by-building, block-by-block. The result is a vibrant music scene that isn't unlike others that have become legend in rock history - Factory-era Manchester, the swinging London over which the "The" bands lorded-- Faces, Kinks, Who, Pretty Things and the familial atmosphere of Haight Ashbury a continent away. This is the Detroit from which The Waxwings emerge.
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