Narc. Magazine Online
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Ben Lowes-Smith discovers a beautiful and nostalgic release from the enduring DIY band
Bella Union
Released: 27.02.26
The Wave Pictures have been one of the country’s most enduring DIY bands for the best part of a quarter-century and on their twentieth studio album, they are expertly assimilating everything they do very well: shades of 60s garage, 90s lo-fi and concessions to classic rock, all coloured by David Tattersall’s excellent guitar playing.
They aren’t covering any new ground here, but focusing it to meditate on memory. A lot of the songs exude a beautiful, nostalgic glow; single Sure And Steady uses vivid childhood imagery to heartbreaking effect, the Galaxie 500-aping Faded Wave Pictures T-Shirt frames the band’s own legacy as a patchwork of melancholic imagery. The spirit of Lou Reed hovers heavily over Gained/Lost – perhaps more so than previous records – and the band’s own vocabulary is so ingrained that you’d be forgiven for thinking that you’d heard these songs before. The title track demonstrates some real Thin Lizzy chops as far as Tattersall’s guitar playing is concerned, which provides different splashes of colour, but the sonic landscape feels a bit at odds with the aesthetic of the rest of the record.
It’s an admirable addition to the band’s somewhat overwhelming canon, and for a band who are so good at universe building, taps into recognisable corners of their idiolect.
