Music
Press
"...songs...so serpentine and knotty, they must have taken 10-hour rehearsal days to master them. Seriously. These labyrinthine pieces sound great...while they’re happening (thankfully, they aren’t fooling about the wah-wah part of their moniker), but they’re very hard to retain in your brain afterward. They dissipate like passages from a book written in a language you only half understand. But during them, it’s like riding a roller coaster in a forest full of pine trees. Compliment." --Dave Segal, The Stranger LineOut, 7/10/09 - The Stranger
"The quartet's monster guitars, attack-drums, and dramatic tempo changes are mysteriously heavy, darkly psychedelic, and you can actually hear how long the bass player's hair is. The result gratifies audience and musician alike in long, rock-operatic songs like 'Failed Spiraling Majesty.'" -- San Francisco Weekly, 5/16/07 - San Francisco Weekly
Seattle's Wah Wah Exit Wound are all about bashing their heads on the prog rock, as they liberally grab from the techincal precision of King Crimson and the unfiltered chaos of Japan's Green Milk from the Planet Orange. If prog is your steez, you couldn't pick two better bands to be influenced by." --Portland Mercury, 4/5/07 - Portland Mercury
"Wah Wah Exit Wound brashly thread abrasive post-rock guitar textures through prog-rock convolutions—sort of like a less-bombastic Mars Volta or maybe Polvo tackling King Crimson's Red. Whatever the case, WWEW do their thing—a thing not many have the skill and guts to do—very well." --Dave Segal, The Stranger, 7/8/09 - The Stranger
"After seeing WWEW a couple of times and listening to this CD this stuff is really pretty damn good! Kind of different than anything I can name, other than this weird Seattle loose-posse of like-minded players who have managed to mix all these styles into longform tracks that go fucking everywhere, but where it's going are sounds I can dig and not pretentious noise or drone cop-out bullshit so many others tend to get caught up in---you guys actually write shit and can execute it. It's very bizarre that Seattle has several units of such progresso pychedelics out there ahead of the fuckin game. It deserves a vinyl releas to give it the psychological edge it deserves to create a timeless document&183;" --Alan Bishop (Sun City Girls, Sublime Frequencies), April 2008 - Alan Bishop / WWEW
"I sure like imagining this Seattle-based four-piece’s meandering, trippy, psych-influenced prog guitar lines working their way through the band’s noise-based backdrops and bursting through the other side–with blood sprays sonic rays shooting out every which way. The band’s sludgy prog rock undoubtedly achieves a piercing effect–whether it’s with gut-lancing bass or brain-rattling noise–which could conjure feelings of being shot with sound. It’s reminiscent of rockers from Danzig or Pink Floyd to seriously guitar-centric influences such as Built to Spill or Dinosaur Jr.–a fine group of idols if you ask me. If you ask the band’s MySpace, though, it will tell you it takes most after “KING CRIMSON!!!” No argument here." --Local Cut (Portland Music Journal), 5/16/07 - Portland Music Journal
Discography
2008: Earth is a Cannon of Love (full length cd)
2009: Vibrational Osmosis (full length cd)
Photos
Bio
Since January 2007, Wah-Wah Exit Wound has been playing progressive psychedelic music. Dave Webb (Girth, Asva), Warren Pease, and Bowie McLean form the power trio that has been described as “Rush on Crack” and been likened to Avant-Garde jazz as well as Black Sabbath by audiences. Like these impressions, WWEW’s music and live sets have been varied as the band has explored everything from technical shred with thousands of notes per song to simple 3-chord heartfelt rock reminiscent of Neil Young.
The current song-cycle the band is performing showcases the instrumental prowess of these musicians more than ever while remaining grounded. These new songs feel like extended explorations fusing the precision of the mind with the power of the heart.
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Origins and history:
The band was originally formed by old friends Jared Nelson (no-longer with the band) and Dave Webb as a conceptual marriage of their beloved Neil Young / Crazy Horse sensibilities with the guitar noise of Sonic Youth, the emotional depth and complexity of King Crimson and the over-the-top joyous prog of classic Yes. What evolved from that early vision certainly contains elements of these bands, but a strikingly original voice eventually overshadowed all intent.
After recruiting Andy Pease on drums and Bowie McLean on bass the quartet hit the road and did a small west coast tour in spring ‘07. When they returned, the seeds of Earth is a Cannon of Love had been laid. The 2nd half of 2007 was spent hunkered down in Seattle, playing local shows and recording their debut. Huge walls of guitar, tender ballads, and breakneck time and feel changes…this record never fails to remain an interesting listen, but is balanced by the sensibilities of the songwriting team. Repeated listens will reveal layers of sonic landscapes and prove that the great rock record is not a thing of the past. This is progressive psychedelia at its best.
2008 and 2009 have been busy years for Wah Wah. They’ve completed and toured in support of Vibrational Osmosis, a record that is close to all their hearts and can be seen as a massive step forward in character, insanity, and song-craft. The entire album could be described as more pure. The songs are more emotionally rich and honest. The technical aspects of the band have been captured as never before. In addition, there is tons of the band’s personality on this record. There is an overall joy here, always buried in ominous layers of psychedelia.
Currently the band has written and is performing much of what will be the 2010 album, tentatively titled Power Trio. The philosophy of Wah Wah Exit Wound has always been to test their material on the road and locally before recording. Many tweaks are made live, in the moment, and in front of audiences, infusing all their compositions with the magic that can only come from spontaneity and live music.
More info / photos / press / music / videos / etc can be found at: www.myspace.com/wahwahexitwound
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