Though Andrew WK hopes to expand his audience with his second album, due in September, he may again face retail resistance due to packaging issues. The front of his debut, 2002's I Get Wet, was covered with a black sticker, hiding a picture of the singer with a bloody nose, to appease squeamish retailers. This time, it's the working title of the upcoming release, "Blow Your Bone," sparking the controversy.

"We had some problems," WK admitted at the Axe House Party in Miami last week. "It was supposed to be about taking a bone -- like a chicken bone that a dog would want to chew on -- and blowing it up with dynamite. People read into that in a weird way. Some stores said they wanted to carry the next record but didn't want that title, to the point where we were forced to change the name. It still might be called that . . . At the end of the day I'm going to do what I want to do and we'll deal with it when it comes."

WK has been recording the follow up to his acclaimed debut in New York City and is sifting through twenty-five tracks for the effort. "Just to give a general sense," he says, "it's really going to blow the other album out of the water in terms of content and in terms of actual quantity."

Tipped for the album are songs including the former b-side "Violent Life," along with "Never Ending Party," "Close Calls With Brick Walls," "Kicks and Bricks," "Addicted to Life," and "I Am Totally Stupid." "'I Am Totally Stupid' is actually a track I had written a few years ago," WK says, "but I added on this new ending section. I'm very excited [about it]."

Producer Mr. Boesch, long time keyboardist Frank Vierti and vocalist Tom Smith (from To Live and Shave in L.A.) are among those who have turned up at the recording sessions. Lyrically WK says he's been inspired by the positive reaction he's had from fans over the last year. "People have told me what they like [on] I Get Wet," he says. "People have really bonded with stuff in a strong way that I never expected and I really respect that. I'm inspired and moved by it and I want to live up to them and I want to make them happy again."

JOLIE LASH
(March 12, 2003)