Country: USA
Genre: Hardcore, punk, screamo
Label: Clean Plate
Tracks: 4
Wolves was first conceived in early 2000 by Brad Wallace and Tim Glowik, who started playing guitar together after deciding they'd like to play in a band together again, after working together in the short lived Mars Colony. Wolves played it's first couple of shows in spring of 2001 as well as recording a demo, but it was a bit of a false start as the band had to spend some time regrouping and finding a new bass player shortly there after. In the Fall of 2001 the band really got going with the line up of Tim Glowik, Brad Wallace, Erik Hopp, and Andy Skelly. Wolves began playing shows regularly and recorded it's first record "Art.Culture.Work" for Coalition records. Coaltion put this record out around summer 2002 in time for Wolves first and only full U.S. tour.
Wolves spent all of June out on the road, and returned home to record two songs for a split 7" with friends and neighbors Ampere, for whom Andy also played drums. Wolves spent the next year playing local shows around New England and in the fall of 2002 recorded for the "Simulation.Transparency.Alienation" record on Coalition Records. This recording demonstrated a band that had been playing together for awhile, and was more ambitious in concept and content. Wolves continued to write songs through out this period, despite and increasingly difficult practice schedule to geographic hardship.
In May of 2003 Wolves and Ampere teamed up to celebrate the release of their split 7" on Moganono records, by playing two shows as the "Amherst Punkestra" combining both bands into one larger band and playing both bands songs. Later that summer Wolves hit the road for a brief period with friends Donna and Carly. Shortly after this Coalition released the "Simulation.Transparency.Alienation" record in early Fall of 2003. Wolves than began work on recording their final 5 songs, 4 of which would go to a split LP/CD with Transistor Transistor on Level-Plane records and one to a split 7" with Sinaloa to be released on Clean Plate records.
The Transistor Transistor split came out in time for an early 2004 European tour in which Transistor Transitor and Wolves joined forces. Both bands had a great time together, and Wolves probably experienced some of it's finer moments in live performance on this tour. Prior to this tour Wolves had already decided to part ways upon return due to geographic hardship and members growing in different directions creatively. Acknowledging that the time spent together as a band had been good, but that it was time to move on, Wolves played two last shows on January 30th, and 31st of 2004 in Amherst, and Boston, MA.
At their best Wolves was a band firmly rooted in emo hardcore of the early to mid nineties, but had ambition to make their influences uniquely their own. Wolves was concernced with the big picture and felt that the content of every aspect of the band was equally important, from songwriting and structure, to album artwork, and lyrics. Wolves records were often to be taken as a visual representation as much as a musical representation and influences were drawn from Avant-Garde art movements and 60's radicals as much as they were drawn from musical peers. Not afraid to challenge themselves and attempt to mix theory with practice, Wolves songs never repeated themselves and were decidedly unique whether in failure or success. Wolves records focused on letting individual pieces create a greater whole, thus putting greater expectation in involvement by the listening audience. Never satisfied in letting any one author's identity flourish Wolves music often took on a more decentralized approach and was never the labor of a single songwriter but more a collage of ideas coalesced by all four members playing together. In the end wolves leaves behind a body of work that showcases strengths and weaknesses, a sense of adventure, and an unwillingness to do anything but wear their influences on their sleaves while citiquing and deconstructing them at the same time.
For those interested in other projects Wolves members have been involved in, Andy played in the Last Forty Seconds, prior to Wolves, and currently plays in Ampere. Brad Played in Orchid prior to Wolves, has also played in Bucket Full of Teeth, and currently plays in Transistor Transistor. Erik is playing in Snake Apartment. Great album by a really underrated band. Get the repress. It's definitely worth your time and money!
Wolves on MyspacePurchase: Clean Plate RecordsWolves - Simulation.Transparency. Alienation 10" repress (2011)
