The new Holy Wave album is the best one from them that I've reviewed so far. Interloper might not be the most original of records, but the Austin, Texas-based band mine this sort of thing so successfully that these familiar forms seem fresh again. Doubling down on the psychedelic aspect of their music, Holy Wave may have crafted their personal masterpiece with this 2020 record.
"I'm Not Living in the Past Anymore" sounds like Brit peers Spiritualized, Temples, and Ride, while "Escapism" imagines the sound had The Clientele attempted this kind of thing. Elsewhere, "Schmetterling" is elegant and breezy, even as "Hell Bastards" revs things up just enough to suggest another style of this kind of material being held in the holster of these players. If the title cut on Interloper is one of many this time out that seems to nod in the direction of Nineties-era Stereolab and Broadcast, one can forgive Holy Wave for that since the results remain fairly distinctive. Holy Wave are, after all, a guitar band, and for however trippy this all gets, Interloper is just experimental enough, and never inaccessible or pretentious. It charms throughout its blissful passages.
Interloper is out on Friday via The Reverberation Appreciation Society.
More details on Holy Wave via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Reverberation Appreciation Society]