IT'S LATE OCTOBER. A rented U-Haul truck is barreling through the frigid air en route to Buffalo, New York. In a pitch black, windowless cargo area, White Fang are huddled around a bottle of brandy.
This is not a problem. There are shows to play, and dammit, they will be played.
When the first van broke, the kids quickly bought a new one. Shortly after, when that one broke, they scraped together for the U-Haul. This was White Fang's first cross-country tour and they wouldn't be stopped. "I'm really glad it's part of my life story," says singer Eric Gage. "I feel tougher and cooler from doing it."
Like when the venue in Chicago said they couldn't play when only a few people showed. Fine—they played a house party instead. Same thing in Buffalo, where the band played a frat house, competing for attention with beer pong.
Amidst these logistical hurdles on a long tour in close quarters, White Fang survived with ease. Their perseverance seems an extension of the philosophy that drives their music: energy above all.
"We don't really practice," explains guitarist Kyle Handley. "Shows are our practice." The idea is to keep everything fluid. Songs bend and breathe accordingly, fueled by rhythm and sweat rather than clever chords, melody, or arrangement. Quite simply, in bashing wildly, White Fang inspires an audience to do the same. The shows, often in basements, have become near-legend as ferocious, contagious, cathartic, joyous explosions.
And, for a bunch of kids too young yet to buy their own beer, herein lays perhaps the only problem: How to translate this energy to record?
Along with their friends, mentors, and "family" at Marriage Records and the Artistery, the boys recorded Pure Evil, and the results are mixed. For a regular garage band, Pure Evil would be a fine start: It's raw, clean, full of inclusive, life-affirming lyrics, and keeps some bounce in its step. But what happens on stage—fountains of exuberant punk youth backed by two drummers—is partially missing here. But Pure Evil is, after all, an early album from a young band. White Fang may yet learn to take the stage to the studio, although they might be better off taking the studio to the stage. And with their happy-go-lucky approach, anything is possible.
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