Other Reviews
The charismatic Mr. Static is the keyboardist extraordinaire for the Epoxies, a spastically entertaining neo-wave punk band from Portland. Their Reagan-era influences are blatantly revealed in both their wardrobe and their synth-soaked sound, and they are shameless about topping off their sets with Adam Ant covers. While this may sound as potentially annoying as That '80s Show, it's actually quite well done. The Epoxies play an early show at Graceland with the Briefs on Friday March 1.
Why keyboards? Did your parents make you take piano lessons when you were little?
"On the contrary. Formerly I was a guitarist. We knew that we wanted to have keys in the Epoxies and punk rock synth players are scarce, to say the least. Utilizing modified Soviet mind-erasing technology, I was successfully reprogrammed approximately 18 months ago."
What or who is guaranteed to make you laugh?
"Robots. Well, only funny robots really."
What's the best way to mend a broken heart?
"I would think about getting one of those new plastic hearts they have now. They seem far less fragile, and easier to maintain. If that is not feasible, maybe some sort of quick-setting resin or expanding foam can be used to effect repairs."
Which city's audiences are more engaging: Seattle or Portland?
"Let's say Centralia and call it a tie."
If it were 20 years ago and the Epoxies were simultaneously offered opening slots on a Devo tour of big stadiums or with X-Ray Spex in smaller clubs, which would you pick and why?
"Damn you! Umm... err... I guess Devo, because I know (our guitarist) Vis wants to get his hands on some prosthetic hair. But we would cry about missing the X-Ray Spex."
- Interview by Hannah Levin for the Seattle Stranger
Interesting rant of a UK 18 year old:
The Epoxies - Beat My Guest: I was searching for the Adam Ant song, and, while I was there, downloaded this cover. Who are they? I'm not absolutely certain. They're an American new wave / punk-pop band, with a retro sound, with entertainingly pseudo-primitive keyboards, and a singer who sounds like a German dominatrix or something. They all have wacky names and dress identically (in black and white striped clothes - well, on the front page of their website, anyway) a bit like the Hives. I'm really uncertain about who they are; they're certainly completely unknown outside of a very very few people in America, and there's a certain risk involved in writing about them. I have a feeling that they might be a joke band, rather than a very silly one, and I'm more concerned that they're in with a very dodgy scene indeed. (There's little evidence for the latter, but there's some, and I still have strong suspicions.) I'm also absolutely certain that everyone else would hate them, which is why I'm including them here. It's this particular song that I've been listening to a lot of late, and, while it's probably completely unjustifiable, I still like it. It's more or less a completely straight cover version, but by a new wave / punk-pop band with blocky keyboards and a singer who sounds like a German dominatrix or, god knows, something. And I love it. I have no idea how to explain or justify this one, other than that I like the band's sound, that the singer (whose wacky name is Roxy Epoxy, rubbish wacky pseudonym fans) is different enough from Adam Ant that the cover has some sort of a purpose, it's a great song anyway, and... well... I'm not sure what else to say, really. If anything, it's that I just like the idea of the cover, and that they've managed to extract the point of the song and just make it more whatever-the-point-is. It's probably the least relevant song of the last ten years, and because of this, I somehow want it to be the most relevant. Make of this what you will.