The album is an undoubtedly fine affair. One just sometimes wishes Ekström might cheer up a bit.
The songs so consistently mine the same material that it starts feeling like a portrait of our era as a deeply sad one, where lost souls abound.
The band clearly have the chops to do better, there are moments that prove that here, but they just need to move past this obsession with Robert Smith and go back to brandishing their own ideas.
‘Hit The Waves’ offers little in way of innovation, an unthreatening album to Sigur Ros and The Knife’s releases later this year, but The Mary Onettes are perfectly happy to look backwards.
That tension between style and content creates a few engaging moments, but doesn’t offer much for listeners who haven’t already subscribed to the band’s ’80s rehash.
#74 | / | Under the Radar |