True summer hasn’t started yet, and many students, high school and college, are still in school, but that hasn’t stopped Los Angeles based indie band Wallows from cooking up an album fit for the beach in Tell Me That It’s Over. Known for their infectious melodies and garage worthy guitar riffs, the trio of Braeden Lemasters, Cole Preston and Dylan Minnette inject this motif and so much more into their sophomore project, the first since 2019’s Nothing Happens. Founded in LA in the wee turn of the decade (and as the interestingly named “The Narwhals”), the trio immediately made a splash, churning out single after single, all with streaming numbers through the roof for an indie band. However, singles and banger EPs aren’t enough for a band that has an encompassing vibe that desperately needs a larger platform, which brings us to today. Complete with everything from spry synth beats to the Blues Traveler-esque serenade of the harmonica all the way to simply irresistible melodic lines, this album was born for the ocean. Overall, the boys don’t stray too far from their sandy, City of Angels roots in any of their work, but that head-strong focus makes many songs on this album such as “Marvelous” and the title track absolute no-doubters for your summer playlist. So, pitch up your umbrella, get your bathing suit on, pick your iced drink of choice, kick back and join Wallows for an early, but deserving start to the summer…
Wallows starts the summer fun with a mellow approach in “Hard to Believe”, a track that feels much more reminiscent of their earlier work. The dirty (or should I say sandy) guitar fill after the opening bridge is signature Wallows and is supported with an interesting and exquisite use of chromaticism in the lyrical lines and instrumental fills. Now, I hope you like the harmonica, because “I Don’t Want to Talk” takes a page out of the Blues Traveler book of pop-harmonica, with an instrumental bridge that would bring a tear to John Popper’s eye. Aside from the instrumentation, the jangly summer pop begins to shine with this track, fit with a simple but undeniably sweet melody that is characteristic of much of the rest of the album. Speaking of sweet, we enjoy our first love song of sorts in the next track with “Especially You”. Though not a ballad, the lyrics and jaunty groove make the perfect combination for a little bit of day-dreaming on the beach. Continuing with the same vein of loving introspection is “At the End of the Day”, a song much more attuned to Wallows more recent work with synth sounds mixed with a little bit of young angst. I would be remiss to fail to mention Dylan Minnette’s pure Southern California vibe plastered all over this and other tracks as well. His cool, collected, and carefree vocal quality is calculated, but feels so natural and smooth that it fits nowhere better than on these 10 sunny tracks. Minnette gets another crack at the mic on “Marvelous”, a song I have already mentioned before. What makes this track stand out to me the most is just how perfectly simple it is in execution (not to mention the use of the distinguished, brassy sound of the trumpet). Minnette’s lyrics, Preston’s easy-to-follow groove, and Lemasters high-partial guitar shouts all form together perfectly like puzzle pieces. The wheel is not trying to be re-invented here, and the way that it perfectly encapsulates the theme of the overall LP makes it my favorite track of the entire album. The next song “Permanent Price” finds itself a little more complex than the track before it, but it no less fit for the listing. More hopeful in its writing than some of the earlier tracks, this song is mostly carried on the waves by the choral stacking on top of Lemaster’s less refined, but sincere vocal quality. Next on the listing, “Missing Out”, is much more reminiscent of the opening track and Wallow’s earlier singles. The vocal distortions and sandy guitar make a return in the choruses, but are juxtaposed with bouts of quiet poetry stands and the tasteful kiss of the saxophone and true piano in the verses in-between. “Hurts Me” the next song on the drink tab is a much more bass forward indie-funk power single. The slap bass is something that isn’t heard much of, if at all in Wallow’s realm of indie-alternative, pop-rock, but Lemasters swings the four-string in favor of some silky-smooth funk near the end of the project, and it gives just enough variety to warrant a couple of more hours under the sun. “That’s What I Get” is also reminiscent of another song on the album, this time “Especially You”. The subject of the woes of falling in love is not enough to bring the band down however, as they still find a way to keep the magic alive with the introduction of what can be assumed to at least be 3 string voices or the violin variety. This isn’t the first time the band has used these sounds on this project, but it is the first time they used them enough to warrant a mention.
Well, it has been a long day on the beach, and hopefully you didn’t end up with a sunburn, but the sun has finally left the horizon, so it’s time to take a seat around the fire pit with “Guitar Romantic Search Adventure”. Instrumentally staffed just as advertised, the forwardness of the acoustic guitar and encompassing fills by the drums, synth sounds and the trio’s vocals, make for the perfect feeling to bow out of the album. I truly don’t feel like a summary is warranted for this LP, as the final sounds speak for themselves. All in a neat little bow, Preston’s tender care with the last piano notes of the project send you away for a final look at the stars and LA skyline, hopeful and ready for the sun to come up next morning to do it all again…
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