Minneapolis-based quartet Wastrels return after six years with a fantastic self-titled album, blending immersive shoegaze textures, head-nodding post-punk grooves, swirling guitars, and moody synths. From the shimmering haze of “Castles” to the hypnotic textures of “Cut of Your Teeth” and shoegaze grandeur of “Sightlines,” the album traverses dreamlike expanses and gripping emotion alike.
“Castles” opens the album with captivating flair, venturing seamlessly from hazy guitar strums into layered expansions of glistening twangs and warming distortion. Lush vocals and sturdy rhythms enchant throughout as well, building to a delectable guitar solo that crosses the four-minute turn with soaring, debonair immersion. The album’s production enthralls in its spacious dynamics, succeeding across both nocturnal rhythm-forward charm and invigorating guitar forces. The latter is immediately apparent on the ensuing “Curious Venom,” as ghostly guitar feedback traverses into a rapid ardor with a sturdy post-punk pulse. Intensified guitars complement an introspective vocal feeling — contemplating “from the inside looking out” and vice versa, as whirls of guitars begin and end with feedback-laced resonance.
Another standout track, “The Hour We Wake” builds into a feverish array of pitter-pattering percussion and delectably grimy guitars, which attain a more vibrant allure as magnetic synth enter the fold. “Take my hand,” impactful vocals beckon, easing in and out of prominence. Both the bass-y vocal-fronted verses and bursting guitar-led swells captivate. Wastrels doesn’t really let up in its quality songwriting from there. “Cut of Your Teeth” is especially memorable in its chilly, deep vocal feeling and hypnotic textures — reminding fondly of The Chameleons UK’s more subdued works — while album finale “Sightlines” moves from jangling, crisp guitars into flourishing vocal harmoniousness and shoegaze-ready guitar textures with lovable entrancement. Wastrels thoroughly impress across this excellent self-titled album.
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“The Hour We Wake” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
