With a heavier, more rockist sound than the post-rock groups that also call Chicago home, Wax on Radio -- a quartet from the northern city suburbs of Schaumburg and Lake Forest -- nonetheless have a similarly oblique, progressive element to their sound, blending the sonic explorations of folks like Explosions in the Sky, Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor! with a more concise indie rock base. Wax on Radio formed in 2004, with a lineup consisting of singer Mikey Russell, guitarist Bob Buckstaff, bassist Harrison Taylor and drummer Sammy Del Real. In 2006, Wax on Radio signed to Downtown Records, the Warner Brothers-distributed quasi-indie that also handles Gnarls Barkley, Art Brut and the Eagles of Death Metal. Their debut album, Exposition, was released in the fall of 2006. ~ Stewart Mason