Release Date: Apr 17, 2012
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: Moshi Moshi Records
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At a time when the future of music is a topic that regularly gets picked over by blogs and broadsheets alike, a band like The Wave Pictures can seem pretty old-fashioned. Three disheveled blokes wielding guitar, bass and drums, writing songs laced with kitchen sink drama and seemingly on a constant cycle of touring and releasing records, it can initially be difficult to see why they’ve developed such cult appeal. Surely there’s plenty of bands around that do this kind of thing? If only.
The Wave Pictures are something of a tough sell, to the uninitiated. The music they make - prolifically, ‘Long Black Cars’ being their twelfth album since 2003 - has a lot in common with early 50s rock and roll, with some bits of the seventies California scene thrown in for good measure. The band’s set-up - the simple but effective Mo Tucker beat, the propulsive guitar, effective bass - is not a million miles from an act you would find on stage at a working men’s club on a Saturday night, playing through a vast repertoire of ‘standards’.