Playing raw, raucous, and purposefully goofy punk rock that's just smart enough to know the importance of being stupid, the Wax Museums hail from Denton, Texas and feature Paul Museum on vocals, TV's Daniel (aka Daniel Fried, aka Daniel Zeigler) on guitar, Payton Green, on bass and Prince Gregory (aka Gregory Rutherford) on drums. The group formed in 2005, when Museum and Daniel began a long distance musical collaboration; the Denton-based guitarist was writing tunes and looking for a lyricist, and he began sending recordings of rough melodies to Museum, who was living in East Texas. Museum would spontaneously toss lyrics onto the recordings, and within a few weeks, the two had written more than three-dozen songs. Museum relocated to Denton and in 2006, Rehab Records released the first 7" by the Wax Museums. For their early recordings, the group consisted of just Museum, Daniel, and a drum machine, but bassist Green and drummer Jason Kelly (aka Jason K) signed on in time for their second release, a four-song EP on Hozac. A handful singles for various punk labels and lots of frantic live shows solidified the group's reputation as a band to watch in Texas, and in 2008 they released their debut album on Douchemaster Records. However, by the time the album hit stores, the group went into hiatus; Museum relocated to California to pursue a romantic relationship, and while the band insisted they hadn't broken up, for three years they played live only periodically and released no recordings. In 2011, the Wax Museums returned to active duty, with new drummer Gregory taking the place of Kelly. Striking a deal with Trouble in Mind Records, the Wax Museums released their second full-length album, Eye Times, in the summer of 2011, with a handful of lives shows following. That same summer, Tic Tac Totally Records released Zoo Full of Ramones, a compilation that gathered the material from the group's 7" released onto one LP. During their abundant time off from the Wax Museums, Daniel plays with the groups Video and Bad Sports, Green performs with Back Stabbath and Wiccans, and Gregory is a member of Wiccans and Silver Shampoo. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
