Blistering chops and interstellar freakouts have always been the stock-in-trade of The Atomic b*****wax. Their first two albums and "Spit Blood" EP inspired a rabid worldwide fanbase, garnering nods from Fox Sports Net, Warren Haynes (Govt. Mule/Allman Brothers), MTV's The Real World, and Clutch, who invited b*****wax on tour in 2001. But the band was continually prevented from taking their combustive live show on the road, leaving drummer Keith Ackerman (ex-Solace) and bassist/singer Chris Kosnik (ex-Godspeed) homebound and frustrated, due to guitarist Ed Mundell's obligations with Monster Magnet, his other band.

In mid-2003, Ackerman and Kosnik parted ways with Mundell. Finn Ryan, ex-singer/guitarist of Atlantic artists Core, was enlisted soon after for a series of American and European tours. The band played over seventy gigs with Ryan in 2004, determined to gel as a unit before entering Trax East Studios (Dillinger Escape Plan, God Forbid, Solace) to record "3".

Kosnik describes "3" as, "all the same craziness, wrapped around actual tunes." Offsetting his manic howl and invigorating the trademark frenetics is the addition of Ryan's smooth vocal delivery, rendering the lyrical passages infinitely singable. "We could've made a record that sounded like old b*****wax, but Finn can actually sing, so why not utilize that?" "3" mixes classic b*****wax flair with the angular jazziness of Core, vitalized with an injection of Queens of The Stone Age accessibility. It's a huge evolutionary shift for the band, but one thing is unchanged: The Atomic b*****wax are an explosive, stratosphere-scraping live outfit. And this time, fans longtime and new will get the live b*****wax they crave, as the band will tour nearly four months from May to December of 2005 across North America and Europe in support of "3".

THE ATOMIC b*****WAX SUMMER TOUR: