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Wire Graffiti takes alternating musical currents and conducts them into high-energy generator rock.
This crowd-rousing four piece from Oakland, CA is powered by vocalist/guitarist Katherine Sawyer and guitarist Stev Ohanis, and driven full force by drummer Rob Tucker and bassist Rafa Corral. Wire Graffiti celebrate their tenth year of battering sound systems and frenzying fans by releasing their fourth full length CD which features original bass player Tim Sanchez.
Wire Graffiti have always played what they want, and this self-titled CD is no exception. With Katherine and Stev’s combined influences, the new songs are given plenty of juice and plugged into a user-friendly rock album that spotlights what Wire Graffiti is all about, one big rebellious party.
Songwriter's Katherine Sawyer and Stev Ohanis met 13 years ago over a game of pool at Oakland's George and Walt's and haven't looked back. Wire Graffiti's first CD, Poetic Dictionary, a mostly folk-based album written primarily by Katherine and co-written, recorded and produced by Stev, was featured on KFOG's Local Anesthetic. Playing live with band members Tim Sanchez on bass and DC Carter on drums, they quickly developed a sound that shifts easily from ethereal to hardcore, while still keeping one hand on their folk rock roots.
Drummer Derek DeFields stepped in for Wire Graffiti’s second recording, Hitting Traffic, which was released in 2000. Rob Tucker replaced Derek after he left to do session work in LA and Hitting Traffic established the band in the underground club scene, with an ever growing fan base, college radio exposure and television spots including Bay TV's nationally broadcast 'The Show'.
With bassist Tim Sanchez and drummer Rob Tucker the band wrote and released their third full length CD, Peculiar Love, on Valentine's Day 2003.
Taking the band in a decidely quirky and complicated direction with producer Scrote (Casino Royale, Baby Snufkin), this CD features guest artists Dave Palmer (Seal, Fiona Apple, Brian Eno) boards, horn players Mike and Travis Lafferty, and Angelique X (Venus Bleeding, Charm School Dropouts, T&A) singing backup.
West Coast Performer Magazine
June 2003
First and foremost, there's the voice. Wire Graffiti's Katherine Sawyer has a distinctive way of singing - her powerhouse voice is low-register, nasally, a little like a gothic cabaret artist.
Think Siouxsie Sioux, Chrissie Hynde, Ani DiFranco, L7, Sleater Kinney. The music goes here,
there, everywhere, but Sawyer's witchy voice dominates the proceedings. It demands, "Pay attention.
Listen to me." Which is irritating at first, but then grows on you. Second, there's
the instrumentation. Tim Sanchez's bass and Sawyer's and Stev Ohanis' masterful guitars weave an
intricate spell on Peculiar Love. The songs take gothic rock sounds and put them in jazz and
prog-rock structures full of dynamic changes, baroque embellishments and endless moody grooves.
The concept is to be admired, even if Peculiar Love sometimes veers into Halloween haunted house
soundtrack territory. Third, there are the mood swings. Peculiar Love starts with a bit of vampire
rock on "El Politico," with dark, creeping keyboards, a racing drum machine and bleating jazz horns.
The vampire stalking feel continues with dancing bass and plodding guitar of "Liquid Sugar."
The vampire becomes a circus freak as the music turns mathy and funky in the vein of Primus on
"Get Me Out" and veers toward experimental beat poetry in "Roses to Snakes." On "Mercury," we
return to the ghostly carnival cabaret, which is interrupted by a burst of bad-ass punk pop for
"Scavengers." The wicked beginning of "Patent Pending" ("Oh you're mine mine to give and take
from / now I want want more so you'll be less" ) devolves into a sedate neurotic rock ballad,
and "Belle the Killer" looms with big rock guitars and slow, echoing feedback. Add it all
together, and Peculiar Love is quite a compelling bag of tricks.
-Lisa Hix
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