Waxed Keeps on Thrashin' With 'Big Blind'

To some, a band in the punk realm working with any kind of organization is comparable to an angel losing its wings. Luckily for local true-blue punkers, Nashville thrash-y five-piece Waxed isn’t interested in adhering to anyone’s expectations but their own. The group recently signed with Missing Piece Records — not the first time they’ve been on a label, though they’re in company you might not expect alongside labelmates like Caitlin Rose and SUSTO — and their new single “Big Blind,” which we're very pleased to premiere today, is a concrete continuation of their DIY punk roots.

“We feel like the song stays true to our sound, but also represents our ever-evolving approach to songwriting,” frontman Luc Richards says in an email. “We write the music that we want to hear and strive to never lock ourselves in a box creatively.” 

The song’s somewhat dispairing, down-on-your luck innuendos are countered by flurries of electric riffs and battering drums. In classic Waxed style, an extended, raging guitar solo rounds out the track.

“‘Big Blind’ is a song about dominating personal shortcomings by whatever means necessary and failing even still,” Richards says. “Wherever you go, there you are.”

The single offers a crisper, more evolved take on the band’s headbanging discography. Though it’s not as in-your-face as their debut record Give Up, the track certainly sets the stage for some circle pit energy at future shows — truth be told, it’s virtually impossible to not get shoved around by sweaty bodies at a Waxed show. Things might be a little different at their next couple gigs, however: Catch them when they leave the standing-room-only world for new venue The Pinnacle, opening for Jack White on Friday. (Rich Ruth opens Saturday.)

The Spin

Waxed Thrashes It Out at The Basement

• P.J. Kinzer