maximum wage

Bio:

Ian and Paul were in a band together. Ryan and Paul were in a band together. Paul was the vital link, really. Maximum Wage, a sensational new group out of Chicago, comprised of Ian Adams (Guitar player and singer, formerly of Happy Supply/The Ponys/Submarine Races, etc.), Ryan Weinstein (Bass player and singer, formerly of Cavity,White Savage, Red Eyed Legends, Euphone, The Returnables, etc.),and Paul John Higgins (Drum and Cymbals player, formerly of Submarine Races, Red Eyed Legends). The band formed in 2008, and have played shows to stunned crowds of twenty or so people throughout this time period. Maximum Wage plays music best described as "Buttoned Up", are devout fans of novelty and brevity, and have done their best to pay musical salutation to the legacies of those that came before them, like Joe Meek, The Crucifucks, Ahab and The Wailers, and the like. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the cheap seats: "If you enjoyed Ian Adams’s playfully caustic pop sensibility in his old drum-machine duo Happy Supply or in the Ponys—where he occupied a sort of Brian Jones role, sans the maracas, drugs, and paternity suits—you should find much to appreciate in this new band. In Maximum Wage he plays with drummer Paul John Higgins from his previous group, the Submarine Races (who released an incredible but sadly overlooked final LP, Hard to Look At, Easy to See, last year on In the Red), and new bassist Ryan Weinstein, Higgins’s bandmate from Red Eyed Legends and a vet of Euphone and White Savage, among others. (Full disclosure: Higgins is the Reader’s editorial designer.) Adams is responsible for the reverbed 12-string Rickenbacker jangle and sharp but sweet hooks, and the group as a whole is talented and creative enough to pull off nods to both Ray Davies-style foppishness and the Minutemen’s open-spirited econo jam." B. Costello, Chicago Reader, 2009

Member Since:

March 31, 2009

Members:

Ian, Paul, and Ryan. (Board of Trade members: Johnny Sampson Sam Wagster)

Influences:

Joe Meek, The Crucifucks, Orange Juice, Takeshi Terauchi, The Kinks, The Collins Kids, The Minutemen, Allen Tousaint, The Astronauts, Ahab and The Wailers, Schooly D, Kraftwerk, Simpler Times, Furry things, Girls, The Anti-War Movement, Jobs, The Zoo, Freddie's Pizzeria, Svengoolie, Berwyn, Elevator Appointments, Late Rent fees, Scooters, Motorcycles, Gardening, Collecting Things, Collecting Dust

Sounds Like:

Kinda sounds like Takeshi Terauchi,Joe Meek, Ray Davies, and Edwin Collins started a band with the guy from The Submarine Races and the guy from The Lanterns singing. Thanks Johnny! Maximum Wage backing up singing sensation Johnny Sampson in Chicago! Playing Ahab and the Wailer's lost classic "Cleopatra's Needle" on Record Store Day, 2010

Record Label:

Rococo Records, LTD.