Photo by Alison Scarpulla

With the second coming of shoegaze now in full swing, so many bands are being described as “dreamy” that you’d think critics are literally falling asleep at the wheel. Austin five-piece Holy Wave is certainly dreamy in a sense, but theirs is the kind of dream that’s more vivid than blurry, more present than passing. On their third studio album, Freaks Of Nurture, the band combines elements of psych, Nuggets-era garage pop, and surf rock before slathering the whole package in the requisite coat of reverb. It’s the kind of dream that would be easy to get lost in, but there’s always a warm guitar riff to guide you out of your reverie, like a ray of sunlight shining on closed eyelids.

Freaks Of Nurture will be released via The Reverberation Appreciation Society on March 11th. Recorded at Cacophony Recorders in Austin, the album is Holy Wave’s most sonically expansive to date. “We wanted to get heavier and louder, experiment with more songwriting styles and traditional pop elements,” the band explains. “We wanted to freely express different influences regardless of their relevance to each other.”

The album is also notable for its procession of A-level puns. Besides the title, we’ve got gems like “California Took My Bobby Away” and “Sir Isaac Nukem”. As if these slackers weren’t easy enough to love already.

Listen in to a stream of Freaks Of Nurture below.

Freaks Of Nurture album artwork:

Freaks Of Nurture Tracklist:

01. She Put A Seed In My Ear

02. Wendy Go Round

03. Western Playland

04. You Should Lie

05. California Took My Bobby Away

06. Air Wolf

07. Our Pigs

08. Sir Isaac Nukem

09. Magic Landing

10. Minstrel’s Gallop