Fans waking up as Wave Pictures find sea legs in London
Words Emmy Moss
“It’s hard to imagine a world where Tom Waits is a superstar,” sighs the Wave Pictures’ Dave Tattersall. “It’s a nice world, and I don’t know where it went.”
It’s early January, and the Wave Pictures are talking golden ages. Holed up in an studio beneath east London’s Duke of Uke, the band are laying down tracks for their new album, three months before one they’ve already completed is due for release. Apparently this is how it used to be done, and how it should be done. “Neil Young used to make two albums a year,” says Dave, “He’d write a song every two weeks then record the last 10, and it would be awesome.”
You get the feeling that Dave and his bandmates would rather live in simpler times. Moving to London over a year ago, they still carry themselves with the wide-eyed wonderment of three boys from the Leicestershire countryside, and most of the trappings of MySpace-era indie are completely alien to them. Dave listens mainly to vinyl that pre-dates the eighties and the other two wander around like a pair of fifties shopkeepers on loan from Blackpool Pier. Don’t take them for being naïve, though - they have a strong sense of identity, borne out of the isolation of their rural upbringing.
“You develop a firmer idea of who you are when you don’t know anybody else,” says Dave, who started playing with bassist Franic six years ago. “For better or for worse, we are a band who were completely unfamous for six years. That’s why we’re here recording when nobody asked us to, because it’s what we’ve always done.”
Things have changed recently for the Wave Pictures. The communal move to London made it easier to play shows and a deal with independent label Moshi Moshi has them tipped for big things in 2008. This concept means nothing to them, of course, which is part of their appeal. Word is spreading about their non-image-led, anti-branded indie and their live shows are starting to attract not so much a fanbase as a community. “I guess this could be a year of life-changing success for us,” hypothesises drummer Johnny, “but either way we’ll still be making music.”
That music, by the way, is sixties-influenced surf pop with lyrical candour the Magnetic Fields couldn’t touch. It’s partly shocking, partly charming and also fucking great. The golden age is back, riding in the wake of the Wave Pictures.
