Artist: Holy Wave
Album: Relax
Released: January 28, 2014
Label: Reverberation Appreciation Society/Burger Records
Website: holywave.bandcamp.com
Holy Wave is “rollin from El Paso to Austin” and beyond. The band celebrated the launch of their latest album, “Relax,” with a record release party at the end of January then took off to share their psychedelic-surf rock tunes with Europe. That’s what these guys are all about, and they’re totally rad.
There could not have been a better suited name for the album than “Relax.” This LP has an immediate pull with its intro track, “Do You Feel It?” as it lures you in with a heavy bass line, hazy vocals and mellow, swaying organ chords. A similar effortless vibe is felt in “Sol Love” and the first half of “Change Your Head/Ecstatic Moment” but not without weaving in some danceable beats. “Star Stamp” and “Mouth Mountain” reenergize your slushed senses as if only to give you a breather, so you can get back to chillin’ out. Then “Wet & Wild” brings the album to an end just as strong as it began but in a very reminiscent fashion, to a time of psychedelia before millennials (including Holy Wave) were even around. Listen to it on vinyl.
Review by Catherine O’Hara
