It's fitting that I'm reviewing this the day after I reviewed an Associates reissue. I mean, Jack Tatum, the main creative force behind Wild Nothing, owes a huge debt to the sort of synth-pop Billy Mackenzie and Alan Rankine created some decades ago. The newest Wild Nothing release, the Laughing Gas EP, out now via Captured Tracks, is elegantly tuneful. These five cut illustrate yet again how adept Tatum is at this kind of appropriation of past forms in the service of 21st century indie-pop.
Opener "Sleight of Hand" chimes and swoons about, a neat blend of O.M.D. and the previously mentioned Associates, while "Dizziness" is more propulsive and hooky. If "Foyer" seems almost too retro, and too reliant on programmed drum machines, "Blue Wings" is more expansive. This is lush music, but Jack Tatum understands how to keep things catchy and concise. For that reason, I remain a fan of nearly all the Wild Nothing material I've heard to date. And if some of this will feel familiar to other fans who've been following along, it's worth noting just how good closer "The World is a Hungry Place" is. Mixing up touches of early Eighties Roxy Music with bits and pieces of things like Japan and China Crisis, this number is an unabashed throwback gem.
Laughing Gas is out now via Captured Tracks.
More details on Wild Nothing via the official Facebook page, or the official website.
[Photo: Ryan Patterson]