The Wild Type

Rachel Mallin and The Wild Type, a five-piece Indie-Pop band from Kansas City, MO, quickly gained recognition and resounding approval within their first year from industry and general news publications, including: Kansas City Star newspaper, and magazines Deli KC, Demencha, Highlight, Phonographic, and Vox. With tour opportunities supporting national acts, like Cold War Kids, Metric, The Struts, Kitten, and Panic is Perfect, their music began playing on alternative & college radio stations across the nation.

Founder Rachel Mallin, then 20 year-old sophomore in the midst of a chaotic year at the University of Missouri at Columbia, had been composing collaborations for a new band. Just before noisily shuffling out of an MU lecture hall after her last final exam, Mallin received a text that would change everything. Justin Walker, close friend and co-collaborator, excitedly proclaiming that her recently self-produced, original song was broadcasting live on Kansas City’s alternative radio station.

In a moment, all of the passion and gall of a young musician instantly engaged. Against all the common sense a young musician can have, the news led Mallin to march off the MU campus and head towards a future filled with uncertainty. Of all she was certain, that her life-long passion for music had grown to prevail and now dictated her path. Alongside contributors Jesse Bartmess (synth/keys), Austin Edmisten (drums/back-up vocals), Matt Kosinski (lead guitar) and Justin Walker (bass), Rachel Mallin and The Wild Type was born.

Back in her hometown, at Element Recording Studios, audio engineer/owner Joel Nanos (Madisen Ward & The Mama Bear, RadKey and Republic Tigers) recorded and produced the Degenerate Matters EP. Throughout the EP’s tracks (Cash4Gold, Dance Card, Dropout, White Girls), Mallin’s vocals lazily drift with charming sarcasm and quips of disdain, as a lyric & rhythmic reflection of the generational culture of collegiate discontent. In perfect complement, the sonic textures of Kosinski’s guitar arrangements uniquely echo a surf-pop vibe, nostalgia of 50's/60's doo-wop laced with modern angst.