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BORN TO BE WYLD(LIFE:)
Young Rockers Just Wanna Be Your Dog
By Jim Testa
They are young, loud, sweaty, snotty, irreverent, catchy,
and clever. And maybe best of all, they’re almost the
complete antithesis of the disengaged, Uber-ironic, overintellectualized,
chillwave/chipcore/hipster scene currently dominating the
lofts, basements, and alternative spaces of Bushwick. This
is – proudly, unabashedly, unapologetically, and frequently
shirtlessly - a rock ‘n’ roll band.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Wyldlife.
The band in its current incarnation has been around for little
more than a year, and splits its time between downtown Jersey
City (where frontman, bar rat, journalism student, and part-time
hairdresser Dave Feldman calls home) and SUNY-Purchase, where
you can find the rest of the group: Bassist Spencer Alexander,
guitarist Sam Allen, and drummer Russ “Rusty”
Barrnett.
“Sam and I have actually been playing together in bands
since middle school,” says Feldman, as we chat over
a few after-work beers at Lucky 7, one of several downtown
JC watering holes he frequents. Feldman actually started out
as a ‘tween drummer doing bad covers when he and Allen
called themselves the Cokes. “We went through a bunch
of names and a lot of different members,” he explains.
“But Sam and I have always had this attitude that we
should be playing in a band. That’s really all we’ve
ever wanted to do.”
Wyldlife at Monster Island Basement
Wyldlife recently released its first record, “The Nicotine
EP,” and has been earning a reputation as a reliably
sweaty good time in dives like the Charleston Bar in Williamsburg
and the Lower East Side’s Lit Lounge (whose baroque
basement space the band has celebrated in a song.) The quartet
also plays often on the SUNY campus. And thanks to Feldman’s
ubiquitous presence in downtown JC, Anthony Susco –
the guru of Jersey City’s indie rock scene – has
taken an interest in the band too, booking them for several
events including a raucous New Year’s Eve bash at 58
Gallery. This Thursday, January 27, Wyldlife will play its
first show at Maxwell’s, opening for the Front Bottoms
on a bill being co-promoted by Jersey Beat and NJ Underground.com.
“The hardest thing to do in a band is to get people
to come to your shows,” says Feldman. “When we’re
booking shows, the first thing I look for are bands who are
on the same page as we are musically. We love playing with
the Radio Exiles, for instance. We’d rather stand out
doing what we do than fit into some scene that’s going
on in the city. Being in a band shouldn’t be a competition.”
Wyldlife’s raunchy rock’n’roll sound draws
in large measure from early punk like the New York Dolls,
the Stooges, and the Ramone. “I have several older brothers
who are musicians so I grew up around records, we had a huge
collection at our house,” Feldman notes. “When
Sam and I were 15 or 16, we really got into punk and bands
like the Ramones and the Undertones. But we were also really
into Oasis and all that Britpop stuff, the Replacements, and
a lot of Seventies power-pop. “
Wyldlife at 58 Gallery on New Year's Eve
“But there’s a lot more stuff we listen to,”
he adds. “Creedence and John Fogarty, Seventies Rolling
Stones, the Strokes, Kings of Leon. I really don’t care
about musical genres. One band we really liked was the Star
Spangles. You couldn’t really put a label on them, they
were just a rock and roll band. When all the other kids in
school were listening to Hilary Duff, we were listening to
them.”
“Another band that I really have a lot of respect for
is the Hives,” Feldman adds. “They tell you right
away that they’re going to be your favorite band. That’s
what we’re going for. Our goal is to never have one
person leave a Wyldlife show saying ‘I don’t remember
what they sounded like.”
Find more
Wyldlife photos here...
You can find Wyldlife on Facebook
and MySpace.
They will be at Maxwell’s (1039 Washington Street, Hoboken)
on Thursday, January 27 at 8 pm. Admission is $8 and the show
is open to all ages.
JerseyBeat.com
is an independently published music fanzine
covering punk, alternative, ska, techno and garage
music, focusing on New Jersey and the Tri-State
area. For the past 25 years, the Jersey Beat music
fanzine has been the authority on the latest upcoming
bands and a resource for all those interested in
rock and roll.
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