Wave Machines – Wave If You're Really There

Perhaps bored with the humdrum of endless revision, I somehow found myself dancing enthusiastically around my kitchen to the sounds of ‘I go I go I go’ one of the two fantastic singles from the debut album from Liverpool based art rock disco band Wave Machines, Wave If You’re Really There. Certainly it’s clear from the off that this album has enough disco pomp to make you dance like nobody’s watching, or simply to make you tap along. It’s an album with songs full of bubbly cheap synths, infectious beats and catchy bass lines, sung in high pitch voices. The aforementioned single is probably the best example of what Wave Machines are capable of, but perhaps the rest of the album seems sedate in comparison. This is by no means a bad thing, songs such as ‘Punk Spirit’ demonstrate the Art Rock side of Wave Machines well, notably not being sung in the high pitched wail of the other songs, and building up to a pleasing crescendo. Catchy opener ‘You say the stupidest things’, which has been the song of choice to be stuck in my head during exams, as well as strong closing track ‘Dead Houses’ are a strong examples of Wave Machines at their down tempo best, with a strong synth line and catchy beat. Single, ‘Keep the lights on’ and ‘The greatest escape we ever made’, hold up the rest of upbeat disco side of the album, but probably will never make you get up and dance in the same way 'I go I go I go' is liable to do. The rest of the album is solid enough, full of pleasingly bright and cheesy synths, and there’s probably enough foot-tapping goodness in there to keep most listeners entertained for the full 40 minuets, and although a few tracks aren’t up to the standard set by the rest of the album, there’s nothing on here that’ll bore you to skipping point.The lyrics, I suppose, aren’t really anything to get excited about. I’m rather fond of the opening line “The day is wasted, if you’re not wasted”, but apart from that they, rightfully, are not the focus of the album. In the disco, more poppy (although it’s all pretty poppy) tracks the high voice used is liable to get on your nerves, perhaps sounding just a little too much like the Scissor Sisters for some people. But then, despite slight art-rock leanings, this is a pop album, and is gloriously so. Full of little flourishes that’ll make you smile, nods to other things, mostly from the 80s, and above all it’s a lot of good fun. 80%Wave Machines on Myspace