London quartet Kid Wave remind us of the Summer, with this slab of Summery Indie Pop. This is exactly what today needs, after spending a weekend of self-imposed hibernation, with the heating on and boxsets on constant rotation, Kid Wave’s new single Gloom hits like first rays of sun to thaw the ice. Opening with an explosion of drums and guitars, it grabs your attention and brings to mind weekends in the park in jeans and T-shirts, evening beer garden sessions and dare I saw, the warmth of the sun. Given the lead tracks title, this is anything but Gloomy.
Kid Wave gleefully mix the elements of Britpop, indie, shoegazing and adds a dollop of pop, to create something familiar but forward thinking. Imagine Granddaddy forming a group with Kelly Jones on guitar and Justine Frischmann singing, with Marc Waterman producing! Second track, Brimstone is a rockier affair than Gloom, but this goes in for its favour. On Brimstone, Kid Wave are at their best when extending the instrumental sections, nothing against Lea Emmery’s vocals, but the real star of this show is the outro!
All I Want is slower and tender (not by much though). Here Emmry is channelling PJ Harvey (along with Frischmann) to create some great vocal moments. The band, drone away nicely in the background, but it never gets boring, nor feels like they are only going through the motions. Final track Young Blood is another stomper and closes the EP perfectly.
There is nothing flashy about Kid Wave. They write great songs and achieve it with limited fuss. Don’t misunderstand me, this isn’t formuliac song writing, there is plenty going on, and with each listen to you pick up on something you missed. As the winter is quickly engulfing us, we need music like this to keep the embers of the long forgotten Summer burning.
[Rating:3.5]