I first met Ray from Wipes when he was in the band Tile. Tile was basically the predecessor for Wipes and share a very similar sound. I had heard their music a few months before and was hooked on it’s massive sludgy punk ugliness. We got to know one another and we would chat regularly, and I made it known how much I’d love to work together. My intent was that I’d always do a record or something for Tile, but it didn’t come to pass. Instead, Ray started Wipes to carry the torch and we finally had a chance to work together on a record.
Now let me talk a bit about KARP. I love KARP. I love that they embodied humor, that touch of something that’s in the water of the Northwest, and most of all that friggin’ bass tone. Holy shit that tone. I randomly came across the self-titled LP when it came out, and likely while I was traveling around the Northwest, and I bought it just because it looked cool and they had a cool name. These days, as superficial as it may seem in the whole spectrum of reasons to put a record out for a band, getting a sound like KARP did really makes an impression upon me.
I can’t say for sure if KARP is an influence upon Wipes, like consciously. But I think Wipes are able to take those sort of super ugly sounds, and tons of feedback, and turn it into a super catchy riff and to me that’s golden. So I tasked them with covering KARP with the sole restriction that it be something from the self-titled LP and they came back with the repetitive, dirgey monster of “Forget the Minions”. That being said, I’ll take a page from Ray’s past body of work and reappropriate it in my own way as a greeting to Wipes: You’ve Got a Friend in the Northwest.
Speaking of which, WIPES are going to embark on their first trip to the Northwest very soon. How’s that for timing and kismet? Here’s the dates:
Friday, May 3rd- Portland @ Fixin To (Hex Records 25th anniversary show)
Saturday, May 4th- Seattle, WA @ The Kraken
Sunday, May 5th- Bellingham, WA @ The Shakedown
Now go listen to the cover: https://hexrecords.bandcamp.com/track/wipes-forget-the-minions
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