Cut.Rate.Box – Luxury Anxiety (Digital EP – Alfa Matrix)
Greg Wygonik was particularly active and successful throughout the ’90s and early ’00s with his Cut.Rate.Box project. The band then disappeared from the radar for quite some time, only to return in 2017 with the rather lackluster album “Xenophobe.” This year, Cut.Rate.Box is poised for another revival, and the previously released single “Reel Life” already hinted at a promising new chapter.
Alongside the familiar title track, this EP presents three additional songs. The material is driven by precise, intelligent EBM influences—at times dark and menacing, at other times soaring with more uplifting choruses. The vocal production is crisp yet forceful, giving the tracks a sharp and engaging edge.
With the exception of the final track, which functions more as a subdued, atmospheric closer, the EP offers consistently strong material. If this direction continues, Cut.Rate.Box seems set for a bright future. (Rating:7½).
Listen to “Reel Life”:
Read the news on “Luxury Anxiety”.
About Cut.Rate.Box
Cut.Rate.Box began in Florida in 1989 as the electronic project of G. (Gregg) Wygonik, soon joined by programmer-producer Clint Sand. The duo built a reputation on tape releases and club shows while relocating through Chicago, North Carolina, New Orleans, and Texas, sharing early-1990s bills with industrial acts such as Pigface, Foetus, and Alien Sex Fiend.
By the late 1990s the project moved from cassettes into label circulation through Canada’s Gashed! and Germany’s Accession. The full-length “New Religion” arrived in 2000, followed by “Dataseed” in 2001, with contributions from Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Kurt Harland (Information Society), and Daniel Myer (Haujobb). The project later joined Chicago-area label WTII Records.
After an extended hiatus through the 2010s, Cut.Rate.Box resurfaced in June 2025 with the free single “Reel Life” and a signing to Belgian label Alfa Matrix. The comeback expanded into the four-track EP “Luxury Anxiety”.
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