As we all know, there can be only one lap steel metal band in the world. Luckily, Milwaukee is home to that lap steel metal band, Velocihamster.
Yes, we’ve covered the unlikely band in these digital pages before, telling you that a.) Velocihamster is the project of Milwaukee lap steel guitarist Sean Williamson, and b.) Velocihamster totally rules. Just last week, the progressive-rock “slidecore” group released a nine-track covers album called Uncaged. It includes fuzzed-out lap steel versions of everything from Motörhead’s “Ace Of Spaces” to, yes, that “6 Underground” song by Sneaker Pimps. Plus, tracks from Beastie Boys, Led Zeppelin, and Sarah McLachlan.
“My genuine disdain for the cover artist arena put these ‘wheels’ in motion,” Williamson says in a press release. “If I can’t beat them, join them…and kill them with deep cuts & kindness. Maybe playing some ‘stuff people kinda know’ will create a few more metalheads, lap steel musicians & monsters like me lol.”
Earlier this year, Velocihamster released a video for another track on the album, “Sleep Walk.” You know, that super dreamy Santo & Johnny instrumental from 1959.
A vinyl release of Uncaged is expected later this year. Oh, and if you haven’t checked out the rest of Velocihamster’s delightful discography—including 2018’s Wheel Of Steel and 2021’s Balls To The Wall—go ahead and do that now.
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