Riding the No Wave

NYC's the Wants return with Bastard, a sophomore album that transforms personal tragedy — and yeah, some additional bad luck — into a groundbreaking sonic landscape

- BY ADAM KOVAC

THE AMERICAN DREAM is a simple one: if you work hard and are dedicated, eventually good things come your way. This is the myth we tell ourselves, whether you are a plumber, a lawyer or a band member. The unfortunate truth is, luck can play a huge role in success. Sometimes your band is in the right place at the right time. And sometimes you find yourself like the Wants, in exactly the worst possible place at the worst possible time. In 2020, the band was wrapping up a European tour in France, when they suddenly found their entire future in doubt as a mysterious virus began to go international. It's only now, five years later, that the band seems poised to finish their recovery.

“Even though it was five years, we were working the whole time, and it’s not something I like to dwell on, but we were about as unlucky as you can be with Covid,” says guitarist and vocalist Madison Velding-VanDam. “The pandemic began on Friday the 13th, the day our album came out in 2020.”

Like so many other working bands, the pandemic ended up costing the Wants precious time, as the members weren't able to further tour behind their debut, Container. Despite those lost opportunities, there was a silver lining. It gave them ample time to regroup and refine a new batch of songs. On the band's much-anticipated sophomore album, Bastard, they continue exploring the mashup of post-punk and dance music they pioneered on Container, but they take it much further. Where Container was often sparse,