Hotwax in concert from Paris for this lunch hour – recorded at la Maroquinerie on June 2nd of this year by Eric Vautier.
A relatively new band (if you consider having formed in 2021 as “relativelty new”), with a debut album released only this past March, Hotwax have signaled a return to the guitar-based band and the concept of Power Trios as of 2025.
HotWax consist of members Tallulah Sim-Savage, Lola Sam, and Alfie Sayers. Tallulah Sim-Savage, a vocalist and guitarist, met bassist Lola Sam at secondary school in Hastings when a music teacher placed them in a group together, and the pair became close friends. As of 2017, they were members of a band called The Kiffs along with Honor Wilson, who would go on to be HotWax’s initial drummer.
Sim-Savage and Sam later met drummer Alfie Sayers at a music college in Brighton, forming the current trio in 2021.
Sam grew up listening to the Beatles, Amy Winehouse, and Destiny’s Child, while Sim-Savage grew up listening to country and Lady Gaga, before developing an interest in rock music through Blondie‘s Parallel Lines (1978) album.
Sim-Savage and Sam took inspiration from Karen O, Starcrawler, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs when formulating their vision for HotWax. Sim-Savage primarily writes the band’s lyrics. The trio’s debut EP A Thousand Times drew comparisons to The White Stripes, Hole, and Wolf Alice.
In March 2022, John Robb of Louder Than War described HotWax as “ripping up the template and stages with a thrilling deconstruction of their grunge roots into a post-punk landscape. In May 2023, Ed Power of The Independent identified HotWax as part of a phenomenon of young artists reviving 1990s indie rock trends, despite being too young to remember the decade. HotWax stated these influences were framed by their parents and mentors, but that they were not defined by them.
By the end of 2023 they were being hailed as a “band to watch” in 2024.
The watching has paid off, if this gig from Paris is any indication – earth-shatteringly loud with vocals getting a bit lost in the sonic blizzard. Still – a band that should get over to these shores, the sooner the better.
In the meantime, have at it.
