The legendary Wax Trax! Records imprint will be reborn this summer under the direction of Julia Nash — daughter of label co-founder Jim Nash — and will mark its resurrection with the release of a 12-inch single from Cocksure, the new project featuring label mainstay Chris Connelly (Revolting Cocks, Ministry, etc.) and Acumen Nation’s Jason Novak.
That vinyl single, “TKO Mindfuck,” is due out in mid-June under catalog number WAX 9196, and will feature a guest appearance by another past Wax Trax! star: Richard 23 of pioneering industrial act Front 242. The single first will be offered in an exclusive colored-vinyl pressing that will be limited to 200 copies (with download code); pre-orders will begin in May at waxtraxchicago.com.
The label’s new incarnation will focus primarily on limited-edition vinyl pressings and special projects from new acts as well as “established artists within the Wax Trax! family,” according to Nash.
“This was one of the last important pieces to carry on what my dad and (label co-founder) Dannie (Flesher) started,” Nash says in a news release. “We have been very careful not to start up the label unless it made sense… This (Cocksure’s ‘TKO Mindfuck’ single) is absolutely a great fit.”
Nash and Flesher launched Wax Trax! as a record store in Denver in the 1970s, then moved to Chicago in 1978. They sold the Denver store (it’s still operating) and reopened in the Windy City, ultimately expanding their shop into an actual record label, releasing music by underground industrial-dance groups including Front 242, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Ministry, Front Line Assembly and KMFDM.
The record label ultimately went bankrupt in the early ’90s, and Flesher and Nash sold it in 1992 to TVT Records, which kept the imprint alive for a few more years.
Nash passed away in 1995 and Flesher died in 2010.
On the label’s blog, Nash expands on the Wax Trax! rebirth:
“What will happen as we move forward? As long as we’re having fun we will keep at it. We hope you will join us for the ride. WAX TRAX! will most likely focus primarily on limited vinyl pressings and special projects from new as well as established artists within the Wax Trax! family. This has to be a labor of love, and if we don’t feel a connection with the project, it isn’t going to happen.”
As for Cocksure, the new act debuted in January with a four-song EP called K.K.E.P. Of that act, intended to evoke the old RevCo vibe, Nash says Connelly and Novak “have managed to create a wonderful world smeared with dirt, piss and the loving caress from an old ‘special friend.’ These guys have successfully returned to the dark place that got us all addicted in the first place.”
Below, you can see the video for Cocksure’s “Klusterfuck Kulture” off that debut EP.
Video: Cocksure, “Klusterfuck Kulture”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- ‘Wax Trax! Records: The Documentary’: Watch first trailer for upcoming film
- Chris Connelly, Paul Barker reunite as Bells Into Machines — hear 3 brand-new tracks
- Wax Trax! Records documentary to chronicle ‘rise and fall’ of legendary record label
- ‘Sound Opinions’ to salute Wax Trax! Records with RevCo’s Chris Connelly, Paul Barker
- Wax Trax! ‘Retrospectacle’: Front 242, Thrill Kill Kult, members of KMFDM, RevCo
- Dannie Flesher, co-founder of Chicago’s famed Wax Trax! Records, 1951-2010
PLEASE REISSUE STRIKE UNDER’S IMMEDIATE ACTION EP!
Full of win. This could be the excuse I’ve been looking for to buy a good turntable.
They also have an Ebay store where you can buy old school Front Line Assembly and 242 shirts!
Back catalogue re-releases please!
Wouldn’t mind seeing some old WaxTrax! stuff re-released, maybe even remastered… with extras.
This makes me incredibly happy – now please finish the documentary!
I’m guessing that since the original label was sold, they no longer have the rights to reissue the older material.
I’m pretty sure some bank/holding group owns all the Wax Trax!/TVT stuff now. A few albums were licensed and reissued a while back.
There may be some WT/TVT stuff they could easily acquire rights to, but it wouldn’t be the good stuff. Most of their early releases were licensed from European labels (including FLA, 242, Laibach, A Split-Second, all the PIAS stuff), and a lot of other material (including Ministry, TKK, KMFDM) is currently owned by another label, so it’s not clear what backcatalogue (at least pre-1990 backcatalogue) they’d be able to reissue. Perhaps deluxe editions of Sister Machine Gun and Psykosonik?
Wow, sounds good! I hope they finally releases You Often Forget the original 12″ by Revco!
Apparently, and sadly, Cleopatra Records has the rights to Al Jourgensen’s Wax Trax-era material.
This makes me so abso-fucking-lutely happy!!! Thank you to any & all involved!!!