Pretty as a picture.
A Sunday night in Edinburgh can be a bit dull and even when the April weather is bringing some sunshine into the late evening, it can be hard to muster excitement about much in life. There had been a few decent write-ups of The Wave Pictures in recent times and the references that were being made about the band certainly indicated they would appeal but it was more in hope than expectation that RoomThirteen shuffled along.
There are definitely Jonathan Richman vibes from this band and for those who aren’t sure what that means, think of The Velvet Underground but with a poppier sheen over it all. The feel of Richman comes from the warbly vocals which add a level of fragility to the songs which are otherwise sturdy and solid. They are poppy, don’t get us wrong but there is a jangle in the air at times and the underlying drums and bass strut definitely reminds you of these bands. As it was the first time we came across them, we’re not entirely sure of the song titles but with a few sing-alongs breaking out, plenty of people definitely did.
There is also one song where ‘I Found A Reason’ by The Velvets was brought to mind, it was slight and rather delicate and very very good, if truth be told. And that’s the thing with the band, if you like a certain style of music then you are going to warm to them very quickly. They certainly seem to belong to the genre of bands who sound great but don’t sell a lot of records but there is still plenty of time for The Wave Pictures to break from that group.
With new album ‘Instant Coffee Baby’ out at the start of May, things are likely to get more interesting in the world of The Wave Pictures and they are definitely worth checking out. They probably don’t fit easily into any scene that’s kicking about at the moment but you know something, that’s all the more reason to check them out.