As the first track in the ”Vanderwolf’s Singles Club”, As the Sun reads as a dramatic and earthy harbinger of the creative output that is to follow in this series of monthly releases from songwriter, Max Vanderwolf.

 

Vanderwolf wrote As The Sun on his dobro in London and recorded the track simply: Two dobros and a choir of voices comprised of Vanderwolf and extraordinary vocalist and music educator, Victy Silva — wife of the track’s producer, Chris Wyles.

 

”Most of my tracks were recorded in Chris’ basement studio in Camberwell, south London.” One of the great perks of the studio was that upstairs there was always Victy– who was actually born in that house on the kitchen table.

”It’s an existentialist’s anthem” laughs Vanderwolf. ‘The song was written as a comment on the evanescent nature of our lives.”

 

But for the video, directed by long-time collaborator Alden Volney, Max sought to build another story:
In November 2024, California voters rejected a measure on the ballot that would have amended the state constitution to ban forced prison labor. The Constitution already prohibits so-called involuntary servitude, but an exception allows it to be used as a punishment for crime. This is a form of state-sponsored slavery.

“A Time To Die” features Chris Cordoba (guitar synthesizer) and Sam Sallon on keyboards. The track is produced by drummer/producer Chris Wyles in his storied Camberwell, South London studio.

 

The third of six singles in the Vanderwolf Singles Club, Twice in a Lifetime, is an unflinching critique of the mythologization and exploitation of musicians & artists that is so prevalent in the capitalist culture where all language, ideas, and art are instantaneously co-opted.  Streaming platforms, record label,s and corporate promoters squeeze every drop of blood out of a single penny in order to meet shareholders expectations.

 

The song also addresses mythology and martyrdom in popular culture – Janis, Jerry, Jimi, Marley, Morrison, Lennon, Cobain – all of them celebrated, marketed, mythologized, and re-marketed. The video by George Panagakos draws on Scorsese’s ‘Last Temptation of Christ’, Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ and of course, Jesus of Nazareth.

The 4th offering in the 6-song monthly Vanderwolf Singles Club, Fuckwitt McGee is a study in evolutionary biology in which Vanderwolf postulates the root character of homo sapiens. The willfully ignorant, stumbling, bumbling character of Fuckwitt McGee represents the universal man. Whether it’s simply locking his keys inside the car or accidentally launching the nuclear codes, the trail of folly is long and leaves bodies, cities, civilisations wasted in its wake. Never one to self-doubt, Fuckwitt continues to walk into walls, trample those who happen to be in the way and generally waging havoc on basic civility.

“Living in the UK for many years, you quickly learn all the wonderfully disparaging terms: ”chancer”, ”wanker”, ”knob”…and of course ”fuckwitt”.  I borrowed the surname McGee from Kris Kristofferson’s Bobby McGee and there you have it.”

Recorded in Camberwell, South London with Chris Cordoba (guitar), Sam Sallon (Keyboards), Will Muldrew (bass). But the real star of the track is propulsive drummer, Chris Wyles, who launches the track into a poly-rhythmic merengue double-time. Of course, honorable mention has to go to Vanderwolf himself who delivers rock music’s first compelling Kazoo solo.