A tsunami of head-nodding scuzzy rock, Freak Waves debut long-player, 'Dont Let Me Down', blends myriad influences and decades of musicianship into one hell of a racket. Recorded in the familiar surrounds of the Reverence Hotel and mixed by their good friend Michael Fitzy Fitzgerald (The Smith Street Band) Dont Let Me Down' follows on from the bands 2013 Self Titled 12 / EP which saw Freak Wave score a swag of recent supports slots alongside the likes of Sebadoh, Lemuria and Cheap Girls.
From the opening swells and crunches of the fuzzed-out guitars on The Sleepers Must Awaken to the stoner vibes of closer Tremhello, the entire record is a collage of coloured-in melodies. The noises of 90's influenced indie-rock and post-hardcore merge fluently throughout, in a way that only this experienced line-up of all-star punkers could achieve. If you isolate moments, Dont Let Me Down can sound like Superchunk, Archers Of Loaf - even the likes of Guided By Voices. But whatevers going on in any individual track, this is a sound that belongs to Freak Wave. Thematically, the record dances between armchair philosophy and dark personal anecdotes the latter of which anchors these ethereal soundscapes to the real world as they unfold. Theres a beautiful melancholy here, and it lingers long after the records finished.
An unintentional antidote to over-stylised indie rock, these tracks roll around the mind like an ocean, leaving the listener deep in the sonic surf when its done. And, praise be to Freak Wave, the surf is good.
