On the night of Feb. 7, 2015, local garage rock band Wolvves announced their break-up on stage at Trunk Space during their release party for their first full-length album, “Whatever.” On Thursday evening, Wolvves returned to Trunk Space to play their first official show in over a year.
Wolvves made a brief, one-night appearance in August of 2015 to play a special reunion show opening for local rap group, Injury Reserve, but with a new single and an upcoming album, it appears the band is back on the Phoenix music scene for the foreseeable future. Active since 2013, Wolvves is known for their blend of punk, grunge, noise pop and rap.
Lead singer and guitarist Aydin Immortal said when he came to Phoenix four years ago, he admired the artistic talent that seemed to forever remain under the radar. He said he felt the scene at the time was missing something.
“There (were) no other black frontmen with guitars who rap,” he said. “Someone’s got to do it.”
yeah we're back pic.twitter.com/ROQTv6E4b0
— wolvves (@AydinImmortal) February 7, 2016
The band released their debut EP “Live Forever” in summer of 2013. It was during that same summer that Wolvves became known for their occasional bouts of on-stage destruction.
“It was really boring, and it was a bar, and I don’t like to go to bars, so we just started breaking s--t,” Immortal said when describing a performance in July 2013 that resulted in getting banned from Last Exit Live.
“(After) we did that, the New Times started writing articles about it,” he said. “And we would go to bars ready to play our show, and people would start instantly talking s--t.”
With a growing following in Phoenix and elsewhere, Immortal said he had trouble handling the band’s increasing publicity. This ultimately led to its surprising on-stage dissolution over a year ago.
“It was all too much for a second,” he said. “I was not developed enough to handle the small amount of attention that we had.”
Immortal said he took a break simply to practice, basically locking himself in the studio for the entire year.
“The most depressing year of my life,” he said.
After trying and failing to bring back old members, Immortal reformed Wolvves with a whole new line-up. On Feb. 6, one day before the anniversary of their break-up, the band released the single “Ivory Drive” on Soundcloud.
Although the single has been out for less than three weeks, it has already garnered over 5,100 plays. The song marks a stylistic change in the band’s music, diverting from the fast-paced noisy grunge of the band’s past to a slower, more laid-back hip-hop sound.
Amador Diaz, vocalist and guitarist for soft punk band Captain Samurai, positively reflected on the band’s development.
“They used to be really ‘punky,' now they’re more mature and melodic,” he said.
William Carrasco, bassist and vocalist for Captain Samurai, said he's also seen a lot of positive growth since he's been following the band's music.
“They’re developing,” he said. “I first heard them three years ago when I started playing. They’re getting a lot better.”
Wolvves’ new album is to be released sometime this year, however no date has been announced. Until it drops, the Valley music scene warmly welcomes their return.
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