Pop music, my old friend. It’s been a while. What better way to reacquaint yourself with open chords, bubbly basslines and beats that make you say “dammit Ringo!” than with Auckland 5 piece Ghost Wave who channel equal parts 60’s British invasion and 80’s Flying Nun indie. Ghost Wave’s textures are at once sonic and cultural, you can almost feel the Vox amp weave and the tweed jackets when you listen with your eyes closed.
Their single Here She Comes features rattling tambourines, simple reverberated leads and a very Kinky vocal style. Wait, no, I don’t mean like leather chaps and whips and stuff, I mean like Ray Davies. Now I know how Tobias Funke feels. It’s simple and charming, with no pretense of having obscure influences from ex-soviet states or Sub-Saharan polyrhythms – it feels as though these guys just jam with big fat grins on their faces. Nothing is there that doesn’t need to be. Oh, and it’s worth checking out the radness of the acoustic version afterwords too.
Orb, from their 2013 debut LP Ages is a little more energetic, reminiscent of a hi-fi Cloud Nothings, showing the band are capable of more than a little rock and roll. Put simply, it’s the kind of song you’d hear during a car driving scene to give the illusion of plot development in a really slow movie. Was that put simply? I dunno. Then there’s stuff like Fuzz – a three piece jam in the key of punk, complete with aspirated vocals, a messy as fuck guitar tone and an overall motorcycle vibe.
They’re a pop band with some credentials behind them – an ability to put on a tight live show and a broad taste in the northern hemisphere’s countercultural past. Check out the set they did for KEXP in Seattle last year on their US tour and go purchase Ages on iTunes.
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