Laid-back and all-round exquisite, The Wave Pictures return in 2013 with their fifth album entitled City Forgiveness – a follow-up to their 2012 release, Long Black Cars.
The result of six weeks driving around America is evident throughout the album – blues, country, and indie sensibilities weave comfortably in and out of each song.
Opening track ‘All My Friends’ exudes blues with a rich guitar sound being the centrepiece of the cruising track. A ripping guitar solo full of bends and tremolo makes itself at home, complimenting the song extremely well.
‘Before This Day’ is upbeat, addictive, and very much like a missing track from Paul Simon’s Graceland.
‘Better To Be Loved’ is pop/rock at its finest. What feels like a mix of Neil Young and The Smiths proves to be a well-crafted track that one can become entirely absorbed in: at almost five minutes long, it only feels like three. Vocalist David Tattersall is to be commended highly in this track – his vocals oozing both Morrissey and Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake.
At 18 tracks long, you’d believe that it would be tedious – like most albums at this exaggerated length. But surprisingly it’s an album that doesn’t get boring, each track exhibiting some sort of different influence. It sounds like there’s about six different genres, yet they all work together so well.
Once you get towards the end of the album, it’s as if you’ve discovered some sort of Wave Pictures goldmine. ‘Atlanta’ is a beautiful piano-based song, while ‘A Crack In The Plans’ is six minutes of rockin’ blues, concluding the album nicely.
City Forgiveness isn’t dampened by its length. The English rockers have successfully delivered an LP bursting with guitar solos, rich bass, and extremely tight drumming. Overall it proves to be a very interesting album that leaves you wondering what they’ll come up with next.
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