Biography
Los Angeles outfit Wand began by channeling a darkly atmospheric strain of psychedelic garage rock laced with metallic edges. Over time, as frontman Cory Hanson eased his grip on the creative process, the group embraced broader classic rock textures alongside touches of modern pop. This evolution surfaced clearly across the 2017 release Plum and the 2019 album Laughing Matter, while their far-reaching, improvisational concert performances appeared on the 2022 double-live set Spiders in the Rain. The ensemble altered course once more with the airier 2024 studio effort Vertigo.
Hanson formed the project alongside drummer Evan Burrows, guitarist Daniel Martens, and bassist Lee Landey, immediately steering the quartet toward dense, hallucinatory garage rock. The musicians quickly amassed a catalog that balanced tunefulness against abrasive noise, issuing split singles alongside Mikal Cronin and Meatbodies before aligning with Ty Segall’s Drag City offshoot God? to issue their 2014 debut Ganglion Reef. Wand then joined Segall on tour in support of that record. Their follow-up was tracked in twelve days by Chris Woodhouse at The Dock in Sacramento, California, where the band introduced synthesizers and leaned further into heavy metal territory. In the Red Records put out the resulting Golem in early 2015. Returning swiftly, Wand delivered their third album, 1000 Days, before year’s end. Issued on Drag City proper, the record wove additional electronics through the existing blend of metal and psych elements.
Frequent touring included repeated dates with Segall, whose admiration led him to perform a series of acoustic duo shows with Hanson and later recruit both Hanson and Burrows for his 2016 Muggers dates. Consequently, Wand remained largely inactive in the studio throughout 2016 while Hanson focused on solo material. Drag City released his acid folk-inspired, orchestrally rich The Unborn Capitalist from Limbo late that year. Around the same period, Wand expanded by adding guitarist Robbie Cody and keyboardist/vocalist Sofia Arreguin. Songwriting shifted accordingly: rather than Hanson presenting completed compositions, the group now developed material collectively in rehearsal. These adjustments and the new personnel produced noticeable changes on 2017’s Plum, where earlier claustrophobic psychedelia and heavy metal force receded in favor of classic rock and more open-ended indie rock. The same lineup soon reconvened to record another EP in that collaborative spirit; Drag City issued the seven-song Perfume in May 2018. The move toward atmospheric composition reached full expression on 2019’s Laughing Matter. Crafted from improvised jams and fragments, the expansive album featured Hanson’s vocals increasingly reminiscent of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke as Wand ventured deeper into introspective indie rock. Extensive touring followed, during which songs continually reshaped themselves to suit each performance space. Material captured across the 2020 dates later formed the 2022 double-live album Spiders in the Rain, documenting the band’s ability to stretch concise studio pieces into extended, sometimes twenty-minute explorations. For the subsequent studio album, 2024’s Vertigo, Wand again folded improvisations into finished songs. Recorded entirely in the group’s private studio, the set emerged more restrained and open than prior work.
Hanson formed the project alongside drummer Evan Burrows, guitarist Daniel Martens, and bassist Lee Landey, immediately steering the quartet toward dense, hallucinatory garage rock. The musicians quickly amassed a catalog that balanced tunefulness against abrasive noise, issuing split singles alongside Mikal Cronin and Meatbodies before aligning with Ty Segall’s Drag City offshoot God? to issue their 2014 debut Ganglion Reef. Wand then joined Segall on tour in support of that record. Their follow-up was tracked in twelve days by Chris Woodhouse at The Dock in Sacramento, California, where the band introduced synthesizers and leaned further into heavy metal territory. In the Red Records put out the resulting Golem in early 2015. Returning swiftly, Wand delivered their third album, 1000 Days, before year’s end. Issued on Drag City proper, the record wove additional electronics through the existing blend of metal and psych elements.
Frequent touring included repeated dates with Segall, whose admiration led him to perform a series of acoustic duo shows with Hanson and later recruit both Hanson and Burrows for his 2016 Muggers dates. Consequently, Wand remained largely inactive in the studio throughout 2016 while Hanson focused on solo material. Drag City released his acid folk-inspired, orchestrally rich The Unborn Capitalist from Limbo late that year. Around the same period, Wand expanded by adding guitarist Robbie Cody and keyboardist/vocalist Sofia Arreguin. Songwriting shifted accordingly: rather than Hanson presenting completed compositions, the group now developed material collectively in rehearsal. These adjustments and the new personnel produced noticeable changes on 2017’s Plum, where earlier claustrophobic psychedelia and heavy metal force receded in favor of classic rock and more open-ended indie rock. The same lineup soon reconvened to record another EP in that collaborative spirit; Drag City issued the seven-song Perfume in May 2018. The move toward atmospheric composition reached full expression on 2019’s Laughing Matter. Crafted from improvised jams and fragments, the expansive album featured Hanson’s vocals increasingly reminiscent of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke as Wand ventured deeper into introspective indie rock. Extensive touring followed, during which songs continually reshaped themselves to suit each performance space. Material captured across the 2020 dates later formed the 2022 double-live album Spiders in the Rain, documenting the band’s ability to stretch concise studio pieces into extended, sometimes twenty-minute explorations. For the subsequent studio album, 2024’s Vertigo, Wand again folded improvisations into finished songs. Recorded entirely in the group’s private studio, the set emerged more restrained and open than prior work.
Albums
Singles
