Wooden Wives are a band I’ve found myself listening to at 2AM, sometimes high, and typically trying to sike myself into a daunting and procrastinated creative work pile.

It was only just over a year ago when Secret East was preparing our first batch of interviews that I initially got turned onto the Wives. We reached out to our dear Sackville friend Scott Brown about contributing a feature on a New Brunswick band of his choosing. Wooden Wives was his immediate pitch. I’ll always thoroughly trust Scott Brown’s opinion, especially considering he’s played in some of my favourite bands in recent years (Kappa Chow? And just one of the many at that.) But, I threw on the Dead Peasants single, and worked my way backwards. By the time the Pilot To Gunner EP was over, I was sold.

Prior to Scott Brown’s suggestion, I was only really familiar with Wooden Wives’ name, and somehow hadn’t yet become acquainted with their releases. It made me realize that it’s easy to assume you have your finger on the pulse of something, and even think that you’ve got the slightest clue of what the fuck’s going on in your geographical region, but yet have a band that seems specifically tailored to your tastes fly completely off your radar for years. I guess it’s a perfect example of why the hell we wanted to start the Secret East network in the first place. With Wives it was more than just “how the fuck haven’t I heard this band?”, and more like “why the fuck aren’t I trading tapes with these guys?”

Wooden Wives and company. Photo by Corey Bonnevie

It’s rare that I get such a sense of common interest from any current band. That’s my fault, not theirs. But the nods that Wooden Wives tastefully dish out hit some of my sweetest spots. With hints of a certain protopunk era mystique, a garagey jangle, and the psyched out pulsations of their krautrock tinged dub reworkings, the record collector in me was immediately nerding out on a wide range of references. That’s not to say they’re a cheap replication of any subgenre’s heyday. Wooden Wives have their own distinct package and delivery, and it works wonders on me.

Oh, and don’t get me started on the art direction that’s somewhat reminiscent of the UK anarcho aesthetic. What more could the shithead punk nerd in me even ask for?

About a year after the Wooden Wives bandcamp discography became part of the soundtrack for getting this site’s shit together, my listening habits began entering the yearly “why the hell aren’t the Damned given their due as the keystone punk band that they so obviously are” kick. Then all of sudden: Wooden Wives drop their first single in over a year, and of fucking course it’s a great rendition of a classic Damned song, and it’s accompanied on the b-side with another great alternate version.

What can I say? “Get out of my head!” comes to mind, but instead I’ll just kindly suggest you check out the single for yourselves:

I’d also kindly suggest that if you like what you hear, keep your eyes and ears peeled for the newly announced Workers full-length from Wooden Wives this December. It will be available digitally and on cassette via the band and Sharktooth Records.

You should:

– Check out Scott Brown’s interview with Wooden Wives from last year.

– Brush up on their discography on bandcamp.

– Give them a follow on facebook.

– Additional Selection: A personal favourite of the Wooden Wives reworkings.