Words: Bobby Brunner

HOLY CRAP! Yes, Holy Crap is the exclamation needed to describe the sound of Holy Wave’s new release, Freaks of Nurture. This album only reinforces my belief that this generation of shoegaze will never die. At least I hope it doesn’t. This is the type of record that makes sleeping, driving, work, and other rather important obligations necessary for my life pretty hard to accomplish. There is just so much that starts happening in the first track, “She Put a Seed in My Ear” with multiple different sounds from beachy pop, garage rock, experimental, and just plain psychedelic to form this incredibly dreamy-dense, yet crisp sound that is coming from this 5 piece.

It could be 15 degrees below freezing, with blistering winds, with no escape to a heated building, and as long as you have Holy Wave playing, you’re probably going to feel pretty nice inside. Even with tracks such as “You Should Lie”, and “Magic Landing” that are a little bit more upbeat and poppy, you should have no problem with kicking back and enjoying some nice, dreamy tunes.

While I was reading interviews with the band, it seemed like they wanted to expand on their musical influences, and almost make their sound a bit heavier, perhaps a bit more experimental. In my humble opinion, I think they went above and beyond their goals and created somewhat of a masterpiece.

I could be exaggerating here, but in comparison to some of the larger psych or experimental bands out there such as Tame Impala, and Temples, that to me, seem to overdo their sound in some sense, whether it be repetition, or drowning themselves in a pool of reverb, Holy Wave’s sound is rather authentic. I didn’t find myself yawning of boredom, I didn’t feel sad, or drained after listening to the album, but instead I felt bright, and almost as if I had been to the beach, or gone for a walk on a beautiful spring morning.

Nonetheless, Holy Wave’s new record pleasantly surprised me quite a bit here. I’m happy to see these guys make new music and take efforts on expanding their sound, which is an element that is missing in the alternative music scene lately. Let’s hope to see more great music to come!

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/231555199″ /]

Score: 4.5/5

Holy Wave: Facebook