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Wasted Theory Announce Indefinite Hiatus; All Shows & Euro Tour Cancelled

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 24th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

Yo, I saw Wasted Theory like a month ago and they sure didn’t look like a band who were about to announce an ‘indefinite hiatus.’ In fact, they kicked plenty of ass. I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye with the ultra-dudely Delaware heavy rockers on pressing issues like flagrant use of cartoon boobs in artwork and writing songs called “Doomslut Rodeo” — by contrast, totally cool with “Bongronaut” (video posted here) — but what the hell, guys? What happened between June and July that you went from, “about to tour Europe for the first time” to “effectively not a band anymore?”

Because that’s right, Wasted Theory were heading abroad this Fall to tour with Plainride, and pushing to do it on their own, no less. Their 2018 album, Warlords of the New Electric (review here), burned each and every barn that had the misfortune to be in its path, and it just seemed like momentum was much more on their side than not. I mean, some breakups I get. Bands run their course, interest wanes, sometimes the fanbase doesn’t show up and people get discouraged. Hell, maybe someone gets a job, right? Could happen. But Wasted Theory were just talking about starting to write some new material, and here we are. I am genuinely surprised and genuinely curious.

Are they done for good? Maybe not. “Indefinite hiatus” is not “fuck you we’re never doing this again,” to be sure, but they’re certainly done for now. They always brought it on stage, and for as much as they engaged their audience, they were clearly no less driven by their own passion.

Their announcement was fairly short and went like this:

wasted theory (Photo by Shane Gardner)

It is with a heavy heart that we must officially announce that Wasted Theory will be going on an indefinite hiatus. All upcoming performances will unfortunately be cancelled.

There is no bad blood between the members of the band and we truly appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding during this time. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has played an integral part in the band over the years, with special mention to our label Argonauta Records for their support and belief in us. We don’t exactly know what the future holds for Wasted Theory, I guess only time will tell.

Until we meet again…. stay high Wastoids!
-WT

www.americanweedrock.com
https://www.facebook.com/wastedtheoryband/
https://www.instagram.com/wastedtheory/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCci0QWWVsPmJUNtXI2yPXNA/videos
www.argonautarecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords/
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/

Wasted Theory, Warlords of the New Electric (2018)

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Wasted Theory Post “Bongronaut” Video; Touring Europe This Fall with Plainride

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 28th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

wasted theory

There’s a quick shot at 4:34 into the total 5:53 of Wasted Theory‘s new video of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Probably not all that significant if you’re not from the region, but immediately recognizable if you are. It spans over the Delaware River and resides at what, from my perspective, has always been the bottom end of New Jersey; the spot I land when I know I’m driving south. For Wasted Theory — and I think they’re southbound (certainly in terms of sound, always), but I can’t be 100 percent sure — it’s probably a sign of home, based in the state of Delaware as they are. It’s the kind of thing that, if you were from someplace else, you might not give a second thought, but imagine being out on the road for a minute and getting back to your bridge and all the recognizable elements of your home surrounding it. I don’t know if that’s why the four-piece included it in the clip for “Bongronaut” — there look to be some sights from flying into Philly as well — but it works nonetheless.

The travel footage seems all the more relevant since Wasted Theory will head abroad for the first time this September, joining forces with Plainride for a 17-date European tour. They go supporting last year’s Warlords of the New Electric (review here), which came out through Italy’s Argonauta Records, and having had the fortune of seeing them just this past weekend in Maryland (review here), they seemed ready for it. Their stage presence was locked in, the material tight, and the volume delivered at full force. I don’t always get down with what they do thematically, but I wouldn’t argue with how much they put into the show. It’s an “all-out” kind of affair, and most of the video for “Bongronaut” centers around that, with live footage captured at various shows here and there. There’s even a shot of their enviably-neat merch table, just to complete the experience. Don’t miss it.

Cities and venues are still TBA for the tour, so when I see them come through I’ll get a post up. Enjoy the video in the meantime:

Wasted Theory, “Bongronaut” official video

Recorded over three months at multiple shows, across the U.S.
There are a lot of high fives and thank yous we wish we could send out.

Edited by Heavy Bite Productions

Camera footage shot by:
Raymond Huffman
Jackie Castaneda
Larry Jackson

***TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!***

The hits just keep on coming! We are stoked to finally announce we will be heading overseas for our first European tour from September 13th-29th 2019. Joining us on all dates will be the mighty Plainride!!! Full list of cities and venues will be posted soon!!!

Wasted Theory website

Wasted Theory on Thee Facebooks

Wasted Theory on Instagram

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records on Instagram

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Review & Video Premiere: Wasted Theory, Warlords of the New Electric

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on October 4th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

WASTED THEORY WARLORDS OF THE NEW ELECTRIC

Wasted Theory, ‘Rawhide Hellride’ official video premiere

[Click play above to stream the premiere of Wasted Theory’s new video for ‘Rawhide Hellride.’ Their new album, Warlords of the New Electric, is out Oct. 26 on Argonauta Records.]

Wasted Theory have a thing for titles. Their third record, Warlords of the New Electric, is their second for Argonauta Records behind last year’s reissue of 2016’s Defenders of the Riff (review here), and both albums set lofty ambitions as regards positioning the band. This is interesting to note, because their songwriting could hardly be more grounded. Based out of Delaware, the Southern heavy riff rockers have brandished straightforward, ultra-dudely chug and groove since even before the release of their 2014 debut, Death and Taxes (review here), and done so proudly. It’s worked for them, and it continues to work for them as they push their sound forward on the eight-track/36-minute long-player, which is inarguably their tightest and most professional-sounding collection to-date.

They toured both coasts supporting Defenders of the Riff, so some sonic progression was to be expected, but in teaming with producer/engineer Joseph Boldizar at Retro City Studios in Philadelphia, they’ve found a space for themselves that is both crisp in and full in its tone on Warlords of the New Electric, and as their penchant for titles extends to the songs themselves in “Rawhide Hellride,” “Bongronaut,” “The Son of a Son of a Bitch” and nearly every other inclusion — you can keep “Doomslut Rodeo,” which feels willfully blind both to the cultural moment we’re living in and general decency to others; you’re not 12, grow up — and familiar homage is paid to whiskey, weed and Black Sabbath, there’s no lack either of live energy in the material. Indeed, Warlords of the New Electric itself feels both born of touring in terms of its craft on shorter, stage-ready cuts like “Rawhide Hellride,” “Heavy Bite” and “Drug Buzzard,” and in some nomadic implication of the name they’ve given it, which, whatever else it may be hardly feels like happenstance. They clearly put some thought into these things.

Comprised here of guitarist/vocalist Larry Jackson, Jr., guitarist Andrew Petkovic, bassist Rob Michael (since out of the band) and drummer Brendan Burns, Wasted Theory work quickly to demonstrate how far they’ve come in two years with a sound less outwardly about burl than the groove itself. Burns is right at home on his hi-hat in “Drug Buzzard” following the opening “Rawhide Hellride,” and as Jackson belts out lines like “Heavy metal heavy drinkin'” in the second track, even his guttural delivery seems to have taken on more character than it’s had in the past, and as they move into “Bongronaut” and “The Son of a Son of a Bitch,” and especially “Bastard County,” he reminds here and there of Earthride‘s Dave Sherman, who over time has also been able to make a rough-throated, “whiskey-soaked” vocal style his own.

wasted theory

Petkovic, who’s new to the lineup as of this record, provides standout work on guitar in “Bongronaut” and the later “Weed Creature” particularly, adding a sense of spaciousness to the songs that is welcome alongside Wasted Theory‘s signature crunch, which itself makes a highlight of “The Son of a Son of a Bitch” at the end of side A, with a post-Pepper Keenan central riff brought to bear with fervent push from Burns and a righteous slowdown of an apex. Still under four minutes long, “The Son of a Son of a Bitch” is emblematic of nearly everything that works so well on Warlords of the New Electric, and alongside the rolling “Bastard County,” it’s a subtle dynamic at play as the band looses memorable hooks and weighted vibes, Boldizar (who’s worked with The Age of TruthRuby the Hatchet and others in the Philly heavy underground) complements their work excellently with a full mix that allows some Geezer-style effects to make their way into “Bastard County”‘s second half and still sound natural doing so. The speedier fare on “Heavy Bite” only furthers the impression of Wasted Theory‘s overarching progression, tapping into more angular, semi-metal riffing as the drums gallop crisply behind. For all their grit and dirt-rocking mindset, they sound awfully clean in these songs.

And it works because that doesn’t seem contrary at all to their mission. Cuts like “Heavy Bite,” “Drug Buzzard,” “The Son of a Son of a Bitch” and the harder-push of “Weed Creature,” which touches on latter-day Orange Goblin fist-pumpery in its verses, feel like they were written with the intent of kicking ass on stage, but the momentum translates to the recording as well. “Weed Creature” just about splits in half from its raging front end to a more nodding finish — take your pick on the leads; they’re both gems — and as Jackson‘s vocals emanate from deeper in the mix as growls in the latter part of the track, it underscores the point of how comfortable Wasted Theory are expanding not just their aesthetic, but the reaches their mix occupies. I don’t know if Petkovic is the difference-maker on guitar or if it’s a general evolution of their style, but the balance between earthy rhythm and that airier lead tone help establish Warlords of the New Electric as moving toward the goal it has laid out even more than Defenders of the Riff made a show of its straight-ahead attack.

They finish with the aforementioned “Doomslut Rodeo” on a riff that channels Goatsnake taking on “Hole in the Sky” with a slowdown on drums in the bridge that mirrors “The Son of a Son of a Bitch” and a last chorus to remind that it’s the songcraft where they’ve most progressed over time, and while I’ll gladly argue they still have some kinks to work out of their titles — doesn’t have to be “safe,” but there’s a difference between edgy and hateful — they meet the task before them on Warlords of the New Electric with a vitality that indeed speaks of the album’s own triumphs, of which there are many. Though lineup changes invariably mean Wasted Theory are more likely to have a shifted dynamic their next time out, that they’ve been able to capture the band as it is here is worth preserving and provides a high water mark for their boozy flood of heaviness. They’ve only ever moved forward. They keep moving forward.

Wasted Theory website

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Wasted Theory on Instagram

Wasted Theory on Twitter

Argonauta Records website

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Argonauta Records on Twitter

Argonauta Records on Instagram

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Wasted Theory Set October Release for Warlords of the New Electric on Argonauta Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 11th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

wasted theory

Delaware-based burl-bringers Wasted Theory have yet to put out anything that didn’t up the stakes from the release prior. Across their two to-date full-lengths, 2016’s Defenders of the Riff (review here) — which was reissued as their debut on Argonauta Records last year, and the preceding 2014 debut, Death and Taxes (review here) — the four-piece have pushed deeper into a plunge of stoner-is-as-stoner-does riffery, marked by ultra-dudely vibes and an increasing vitality born, as that sort of thing is, by a likewise increasing stage presence. To wit, they’ve got live dates announced through basically now (they had two gigs this past weekend) through October, heading out in handfuls at a time on the East Coast and in the Midwest, having hit the West Coast earlier this year.

And though in direct contrast to the righteousness of the album’s title, Warlords of the New Electric, somewhere along the line someone in the band made the genuinely unfortunate decision to name the closing track “Doomslut Rodeo” — lest the genre go five minutes without demeaning, objectifying or shaming someone into their #metoo moment — given their forward progression thus far, I’m looking forward to hearing what these guys have in store this time around. The record will be out in October through the aforementioned and ever-busy Argonauta Records.

The following came down the PR wire:

WASTED THEORY WARLORDS OF THE NEW ELECTRIC

WASTED THEORY unveils artwork & details on third full-length, “WARLORDS OF THE NEW ELECTRIC,” set to release via Argonauta Records in October; Continues ‘Stoned On Both Coasts’ Tour

Hitting the halfway point of their ‘Stoned On Both Coasts Tour” on May 26th with a blazing set at the Stoned To Death 3 Fest in Vermont, American Weed Rockers Wasted Theory sneaked into the studio in between performances to complete a new record. The Mid-Atlantic heavy foursome leaps forward with Italy’s Argonauta Records to reveal the details about their third full-length album, Warlords of the New Electric.

Their second release with Argonauta Records, after the ‘2017 edition’ CD re-release of Defenders of the Riff, this new Wasted Theory displays a disturbingly sober vision of slammed down, heavy rock invaders. Just completed this Spring (April – May 2018), Warlords of the New Electric was recorded, engineered, and mixed by Joseph Boldizar (Ruby The Hatchet, Ecstatic Vision, The Age of Truth) at Retro City Studios in Philadelphia, PA. Album cover artwork and design by Bill Kole of Billy Diablo Design Services.

Argonauta Records’ label owner Gero had this to say:

“After teaming-up for the 2017 edition of their monumental album ‘Defenders of the Riff’, Argonauta Records is thrilled to renew the collaboration with WASTED THEORY, whose new album is already anticipated as one of the hottest releases of the coming Fall,”

Argonauta plans to unleash Warlords of the New Electric on the world in October 2018. The eight song, full album hammer strike will include Vinyl and CD formats, with Digital Download and Streaming through most major outlets available simultaneously to the physical release. Pre-order information and links are forthcoming.

Some words from Wasted Theory on ‘Warlords of the New Electric’:

“When we set out to write ‘Warlords of the New Electric’ we wanted to take the energy and enthusiasm of ‘Defenders of the Riff” and develop those vibes even further. In our opinion, this is the perfect companion to the last album. We didn’t want to put out the stereotypical third album where we start getting all experimental and bizarre. So, we did the exact opposite – we took our gritty rock n’ roll origins and pushed them even heavier into the material.

The riffs are harder, the fast stuff is faster and the doom stuff is doomier. This is the perfect album for those hot, sticky summer nights hanging out at your buddy’s BBQ bonfire and having way too much to drink. This album is very much a Wasted Theory album.”

Warlords of the New Electric – Track List:
1. Rawhide Hellride
2. Drug Buzzard
3. Bongronaut
4. The Son of a Son of a Bitch
5. Bastard County
6. Heavy Bite
7. Weed Creature
8. Doomslut Rodeo

WASTED THEORY are:
Larry Jackson, Jr. – Vocals/Guitars
Brendan Burns – Drums
Rob Michael – Bass
Andrew Petkovic – Guitars

Upcoming Live Dates:
Jul. 06 – Wilmington DE @ Oddity Bar (w/ Kingsnake, The Age Of Truth, Bloodlaw)
Jul. 07 – Kingston NY @ The Anchor (w/ Witchkiss, Shadow Witch)
Aug. 24 – Washington DC @ Atlas Brew Works
Aug. 25 – Frederick MD @ Guido’s Speakeasy
Sep. 13 – McMechen WV @ Goodfellas
Sep. 14 – Columbus OH @ Victory Live (w/ Wolftooth, Horseburner, Pale Grey Lore)
Sep. 15 – Indianapolis IN @ Indiana City Brewery (w/ Wolftooth)
Sep. 16 – Louisville KY @ Magbar (w/ Wolftooth)
Oct. 11 – Pittsburgh PA @ Howler’s
Oct. 12 – Detroit MI @ New Dodge Lounge
Oct. 13 – Canton OH @ Buzzbin Shop

www.americanweedrock.com
https://www.facebook.com/wastedtheoryband/
https://www.instagram.com/wastedtheory/
https://twitter.com/WastedTheory
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCci0QWWVsPmJUNtXI2yPXNA/videos
www.argonautarecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords/
https://twitter.com/argonautarex
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/

Wasted Theory, Defenders of the Riff (2016)

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