A night of industrial art-damage bands at The Pirate Art Gallery in 1985 Intro by Duane Davis Editor’s note: For those uninitiated, our Resonance article series recovers a music piece from our past (often from decades-old, dusty Wax Trax zine) with a reflective, modern intro. The following covers a 1985 Westword article Duane wrote about... Continue Reading →

Your frequently asked RSD questions, answered By Wax Trax Staff Record Store Day is on Saturday, and it’s a biggie. We’ve ordered more releases, planned more activities, and are giving away more free stuff than ever before. There are reasons to come early in the morning, and there are reasons to come early in the... Continue Reading →

An ode to the amazing Stephen Hibbert By Wax Trax & Kilgore Books staff Some people don’t just shop at a record store, they become part of it. Steve Hibbert, our friend and favorite regular, was one of those people. He unfortunately and unexpectedly passed away last month. You can read about it in various... Continue Reading →

Record Store Day 2026 is Saturday, April 18 -- doors open at 8am By Wax Trax Staff If you haven't had time to look at Record Store Day 2026 list, get a jumpstart with a few releases we're genuinely stoked for. We also just rolled out our Record Store Day schedule , and phew, it's... Continue Reading →

By Ethan Goddard Death is one of the few things that all humans have to experience. Whether it’s your own clock coming to an end, or witnessing the aftermath of somebody else's passing. Everybody processes death in different ways, and one of the most prominent ways to do it is through art. In music, we’ve... Continue Reading →

Tucked away in the neighborhood of Chapinero, in the heart of a bustling Bogotá; you’ll find Casa Rat Trap. A place known worldwide as a sanctuary for punks. A second home to many of the local artists and musicians in Colombia. Casa Rat Trap exists as a community space with a variety of services available.... Continue Reading →

A Q&A about Wax Trax’s Q&A with James Acaster and Kalyn Heffernan By Delaney Schoenfeldt At Wax Trax in Denver, Colorado on the 8th of February, at half past one, hundreds of people stood outside our shop because a British comedian wouldn’t stop talking about us on national television. Three days earlier, James Acaster had... Continue Reading →

By Liz Hughes It took us an extra five months, but I finally got to see Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball. Initially, my friends and I planned to see her in Chicago in September, but that plan failed. I bought those tickets in the frenzy of the online ticket queue, satisfied that we were going to... Continue Reading →

By Ethan Goddard One of my most anticipated albums of 2026 (so far) was released last month – “Xiu Mutha F**kin’ Xiu (Vol. One)” by Xiu Xiu. For those of you unfamiliar , Xiu Xiu is an experimental rock group originally based out of California that’s known for their musical experimentation and brutally vulnerable lyricism.... Continue Reading →

By Duane Davis, Supreme Arbiter of Taste The first Mekons record I heard was 1978's, “Where Were You?”, a 7" single on UK indie label, Fast Product. I was already late to the party as this was the band's second single, their “Never Been In A Riot” 7" having been released earlier in the same... Continue Reading →