From Houston, the true "gas pumping" heart of Texas, and Austin, the live music capital of the world, come the improbable, cerebral sounds of the Wheel Works. Simply put, the Wheel Works are an indie space rock experiment that have been described as a "strange and otherworldly drama," 1 reminiscent of Sonic Youth, Spiritualized, Pink Floyd, the Doors, and the Secret Machines.
The Wheel Works' music derives from the blending and clashing of different musical personalities. Individuality is always welcomed in crafting material, yet simultaneously all of the music is a collective creative process, ultimately yielding a unique, diverse, and organic sound. The band holds jam sessions, which are recorded, fine-tuned and consistently worked into their set. Steven Higginbotham sings with a passion that evokes "Thom Yorke and Morrissey", 2 while the music has "breathtaking depth ... that washes over the listener in waves." 3
Four years ago, the Wheel Works packed their hopes and dreams into a duffle bag and made the move to Austin. They played there live for the first time during the 2001 SXSW festival. In early 2002, after several months of gigging around Southeast Texas, they took an extended break from playing live shows to record their first album. The resulting self-titled debut, "The Wheel Works", was released on India Records to critical acclaim in 2003, described in the San Marcos Scene as "euphoric" and "refreshing," and "hauntingly beautiful" by Impact Press .
With their release of "How to Fly a Washing Machine" in October 2004, the Wheel Works give the listener a glimpse of the more spontaneous side of the band previously seen only in a live performance. This latest effort is described in Delusions of Adequacy as a "gloriously chaotic jazzy mash-up" and "shoegazey psychedelic endeavor." All eighty minutes are improvised, and were recorded live in their rehearsal space from 2001-2003.
Sadly, The Wheel Works broke up in early 2005, but having a huge amount of half-recorded material stashed away, they released two more albums. The first, "Audios" is a 34 track double album. The first CD contains many of the songs they played live towards the end of their all-too-short career. The second CD contains a hodgepodge of music, from solo acoustic work to experimental improvisations.
In 2006, The Wheel Works played a reunion show, and gave away a free b-sides CD titled, "B-Sides, We Love You." All of this music is available online at the web-based monument to the band that was: http://www.thewheelworks.org
Rumors continue to circle of the band's return, and numerous Chris Maness sightings have been reported in a wide variety of locations, from Reno to LA to Florida. More information will be forthcoming as the story develops.
In the meantime - keep listening. Steven will be releasing his first solo album sometime in late 2009.
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THE GREATER VAVOOM THANK YOU FOR THE ADD! 2/18/09 @ PRIMAL ATL. The Ravo Group, BMI, Van Michael Salons & Primal present a FREE show with THE GREATER VAVOOM. 8PM
You guys are the first Houston band I've heard that doesn't sound like some dried-up Maroon 5 turd. I really appreciate your originality and the effort you put into your music.
