Wax Jaw

Ortliebs September 1st, 2023

September 3rd, 2023

It’s Friday night in Philadelphia and everyone at Ortlieb’s is demanding one thing: Wax Jaw. Manned with beer bottles and anticipation, the crowd began to chant (Wax Jaw) as the cozy back room filled with the humming buzz of eager fans demanding the band take the stage.

Almost instantaneously the crowd kicked off as Wax Jaw opened with “Gimmie A Try” whose rattling drums and dense guitar set a distinct post-punk hedonistic tone that would be carried on throughout the show. As the set continued it seemed as though each word sung shot a volt of electricity straight into the crowd until every moment was supercharged by the ebbing and flowing of an ever-growing mosh pit.

Smiles swept across the venue as favorite “The Mirror’s” raging bass commanded the the room to toss an arm around a friend and cry out at the top of their lungs; setting up the perfect storm for new release “Be The Man” (debuted August 18th) to be delivered with a sucker punch of power as the crashing guitars made their way off the stage and into the crowd not once, but twice. The band made sure to catch a breath to dole out playful warnings to us to “brace ourselves” as they geared up to play their “hard as fu*ck” song “Attitude.”

With a blend of surf rock, new wave, and popost-punk influences; Wax Jaw can only be described as something akin to the love child of The Cure, Siouxsie and The Banshees, and The Dictators all wrapped up into one package of sound that you may have expected to hear leaking from the doors of The Hot Club in the late 1970s. In the seemingly brief time they have been together, Wax Jaw has already garnered an extensive roster of sold out shows across the Philadelphia area and after our experience, it is undeniable that this streak will continue. 

SETLIST:

GIMMIE A TRY

BIG HANG

CAVITIES IN MY HEART

THE MIRROR

BE THE MAN

CHECKING ME OUT

BEACH ON MY OWN

ATTITUDE

SPIT YOU OUT

You can catch Wax Jaw at Silk City on October 21st and be sure to check out the rest of the Wax Jaw’s photos in our gallery below.

-Before Tomorrow