Cosy-punk puzzler Wax Heads might be the coolest game around. You spend your days working at independent store Repeater Records, recommending great albums to a colourful cast of vinyl junkies and curious newcomers. Outside shift hours, you check out local bands at the nearby grassroots venue The Apple Bed, flick through handcrafted zines and stay up to date on the latest news via daily newsletters from a local blogger. It’s utopia for music nerds.
Plenty of video games feature a killer soundtrack, but Wax Heads co-creator Murray Somerwolff says he wanted to create something that celebrated the culture as a whole. “I’m a massive music geek. I’ve played in bands, I go to gigs, I collect records… and there’s just not many games about that,” he tells NME. The eureka moment came when he was playing Wilmot’s Warehouse, an indie title that essentially turns a job sorting packages at Argos into a treasure hunt. He thought it would be even more fun to dig through vinyl instead, so spent the next two years working with Rocío “Rothio” Tomé on Wax Heads. It launched earlier this month through their Patattie Games studio and has already cultivated a fiercely committed player base.
For the majority of Wax Heads, you’ll be behind the till at Repeater Records as punters come up and ask for your advice. Some know they want the latest album from pop superstar Mimi, others are looking for a present for someone or an introduction to hip-hop. A handful of the more frustrating patrons are vaguer about what they’re after; you’ll need to explore the racks and find them a gem.
“There are antagonistic customers but the game is never about punching down or making someone feel bad for what they like,” says Somerwolff. “We want to show people that it’s cool to talk about whatever excites them.”
As well as the actual music, Wax Heads forces you to pore over tracklists and analyse album artwork. Growing up, Somerwolff discovered some of his favourite acts by taking a chance on how a record looked – and Tomé learned English slang by studying the lyric booklets from Metallica and Iron Maiden records. “Streaming is great for discovering new music from different cultures, but it’s not the same [as holding a physical record in your hand],” she says.
You get points for nailing a suggestion and while money does change hands, Wax Heads is never about turning a profit. “In early tests, some gamers were annoyed they couldn’t recommend two albums or charge more [than the sticker price],” explains Tomé. “That’s not what Wax Heads is about though. If we wanted you to make as much money as possible, the game’s message about community and human connection would get diluted.”
Don’t be intimidated by the fact you can’t recognise any of the band names displayed on the shelves at Repeater because every artist in the game is entirely fictional. “Using licensed music would have made the budget balloon,” explains Somerwolff, but it also meant he didn’t need to worry about arguments over who did or didn’t make the cut. The made-up musicians are inspired by real-life icons – Becoming Violet mash up Cocteau Twins and The Cranberries with Slowdive – but players don’t require an encyclopaedic knowledge of every genre to rack up a perfect score.
There is, of course, a nostalgic element to Wax Heads. The cartoonish Repeater Records is decorated like a time capsule to the ‘90s with garish stickers, DIY zines and homemade gig posters while the soundtrack (created by Gina Loughlin) sounds like a greatest hits from the past 40 years. In a world where your phone is constantly listening to you then filling your feed with curated adverts, there’s something quaint about the art of browsing a record store and asking the staff for advice. The overarching plot about people power is just as charming.
“I admit, there probably is an overly romantic idealism about community and music in Wax Heads but bands like Fugazi [whose acclaimed 1990 debut ‘Repeater’ gave the virtual store its name] really meant something to me,” says Somerwolff. “And if we’re making a world where community matters, you have to have some of those values in there. If you didn’t, Wax Heads would feel a little empty.”
Somerwolff hopes to “trojan horse” this punk ethos into people’s lives. “Fugazi, The Breeders, Sonic Youth, Mannequin Pussy – there have been so many bands who fight for a space where everyone is welcome and free to express themselves, and that’s always inspired me,” he explains. “It’s tricky to get across in conversation but hopefully by putting those ideas into this game, it will filter through.”
Wax Heads has been launched during a record shop renaissance, where vinyl sales are at an all-time high and in-store gigs help shape the UK Album Charts. “Streaming is great for discovery, but it’s also so disposable,” says Somerwolff. “I’m very aware I’m only ever leasing that music and it just feels a bit icky.”
AI generated music is also making its way onto our favourite playlists and platforms like Spotify will play a constant stream of songs without offering any real context about who has made those pieces of art, or why you should be invested in what they have to say. “When someone recommends me an album though, there’s already a relationship there. There’s an intimacy to it,” says Somerwollf. “The longer we spent on Wax Heads, the stronger our case got for making something that celebrated human relationships and the people that make art. I just think people are really craving more of a connection with their music right now.”
‘Wax Heads’ is out now for Xbox, PlayStation, PC and Nintendo Switch