Premiere: Wires on Fire, ‘Learn to Drown’

Kevin Bronson on March 7th, 2019

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Wires on Fire were among the league leaders in L.A. Bands Most Likely to Cause Hearing Loss in the mid-2000s (nods to the Bronx, the Icarus Line and 400 Blows here as well). They barreled angrily out of the San Fernando Valley to issue their “Homewrecker” EP in 2004 and a self-titled full-length on now-legendary Buddyhead Records, the offshoot of the now-legendary Buddyhead website, in 2006. They played the very first now-legendary Fuck Yeah Fest when it was a mere pop-up event — that show at Jensen’s Rec Center in Echo Park was like standing outdoors in the middle of a hurricane being pelted by debris.

They turned sledgehammer punk-metal into a spectacle, but they didn’t hang around long. In 2007, bassist Michael Shuman was recruited to play with Queens of the Stone Age, and Wires on Fire’s sophomore album was left dangling in the breeze, only partially finished. Besides Shuman, whom you probably also know from his band Mini Mansions, Wires on Fire’s lineup was populated by other now-familiar faces: Dash Hutton, Evan Weiss, Jeff Lynn and Darren Weiss. You might recognize them from having formed bands such as PAPA, Slang Chickens, Junk and Turtles on Speed, or from playing with artists such as Sparks, GIRLS and others.

Did we mention that first EP came out in 2004? Astute mathematicians will note that was 15 years ago, which makes this year an anniversary. So Wires on Fire have not only gotten the band back together, but they’re releasing a couple of new singles through the Psychedelic Judaism imprint. It’s the first music from the band since the one-off single “Born Dirty to Last Forever” in 2013.

In advance of their reunion show next week, Wires on Fire today today released “Learn to Drown,” which over 5 1/2 minutes morphs from pretty to seething to turgid to explosive. It follows last month’s single “God’s Guest List,” which re-introduced the band’s familiar heavy grind. And that second album? It’s coming later this year.

Next Thursday’s show will feature the band playing “Homewrecker” in its entirety with Hutton on drums, followed by other jams from the catalog with Darren Weiss behind the kit.

||| Stream: “Learn to Drown” and “God’s Guest List”