Las Vegas Weekly

Sound and furry

Three questions with Mons Wolff

Mons Wolff, in a less ferocious moment.

Photo: Corlene Byrd

Traditionally nerdiness hasn’t been known to score points in abrasive subcultures, and the guys in Vegas outfit Mons Wolff know it. Created two years ago as a concept band based on a theoretical comic book with a complex plot involving an underground lunar facility (their friend never got around to drawing it), the quintet is less about gimmicks than brutal, back-breaking progressive hardcore. The Weekly caught up with guitarists Jayson Kingdon and Matt Reininger and drummer Alex Lenkeit to get the latest.

You guys, Caravels, The Fucking Party, I Am the Thief ... what do you think is fanning the flame for progressive hardcore here at the moment?

Reininger: A lot of it is because most of [those bands] all listen to the same music …

Lenkeit: It’s funny, people were jamming for so long until they found the right group of people. And we’re tired of not having good music [in the city].

As always, the all-ages venue scene is a mess right now. Has that forced you guys into homes and warehouses?

Lenkeit: I’m all right playing gigs in houses. But anytime an [out-of-town] band asks us to book them a show in Vegas, I am kind of reluctant—it really is a mess. We like to get out of town as much as possible.

Were the late ’90s, with bands like Curl Up and Die and Faded Grey on the scene, a better era for up-and-coming hardcore bands in Vegas?

Kingdon: I wouldn’t say we missed it altogether ... but it’s tough to say. People still have this “They’re good, but they’re not Curl Up and Die” mentality … and we’re not really trying to [be them], but some older followers of the scene still [expect] that.