I'd seen Holy
Wave twice before at festivals in Austin and enjoyed them quite a
bit, so when I heard they were coming to Berlin for the first time, I
was immediately curious.
Artist: Holy Wave
Venue: Musik und
Frieden
Location: Berlin,
Germany
Date: 22 August 2018
Opening Act: Soft
Crystals
Soft Crystals,
a Berlin-based Scottish
band, opened the show. They played a chill, rather minimalist indie
rock. They were tight with a
steady rhythm and groove, and while the songs were simple, every
element was played with finesse. The guitarist generally kept his
tone clean and didn't overwhelm the stage, letting the keyboards and
bass share just as much space. This pattern shifted slightly on the
third song, when the guitarist unexpectedly took a brief solo with a
psychedelic edge underlain with heavy phasing and reverb. Each
subsequent song also had a solo, usually brief and melodic, but
occasionally leading back into psychedelic territory. The vocals
benefited from some harmony parts from the keyboards. Their
unpretentious demeanor was deceptive and they played a strong set.
[Soft Crystals.]
Holy Wave,
based in Austin but
originally from El Paso, continued in their vein of heavy psych jams
with touches of classic 60s tones and modern sounds akin to the Brian
Jonestown Massacre. I've been hearing a lot of people making
references to My
Bloody Valentine about their recent work, and while there are
traces, I think Holy Wave are less shoegaze and more indebted to the
garage rock that begat the original psychedelia. This is particularly
evident in the band's earlier records, but they've maintained garage
elements even in their newest album.
[Holy Wave.]
Their set ran the gamut
of psychedelic territory, including trance drones, unsophisticated
rave-ups, bits of synthesizer experimentation, heavy jams,
organ-heavy pseudo-pop, and nuanced dual-guitar interplay. Some songs
dragged, and the vocals weren't as strong as on record, but there was
plenty of compelling material to keep me engaged. As their set
came to a close, they brought things to a peak with a couple really
strong, high-energy psych jams, and I was sad to see them go after
just about an hour. Thankfully, they came back for an encore of two
more lengthy songs of similar style and caliber.
Even if few of their
songs stand out on their own, the sum of their sound is generally a
consistent pleasure. It's nice to have a periodic reminder of the
wonderful sounds of Austin that I got to hear so much of when I lived
there.
[What's with the bunny ears with the German national colors!?]
Scores:
Soft Crystals: B+
Holy Wave: B+
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