AWmusic

Wild Light is a band out of New Hampshire with some close associations to Win Butler of the Arcade Fire (according to Wikipedia). Anyway, I was interested in the band after hearing a few songs, and actually haven’t seen many bands out of New Hampshire. (Go FisherCats)

To describe Wild Light’s style, perhaps would be to call it schizophrenic pop. Not crazy pop but multiple personalities musically while they have multiple vocalists. Sometimes it goes from baroque pop other times other times using electro synths while being catchy at the same time. It’s pretty good pop to say the least – doesn’t it make sense why I picked it up in the first place?

Adult Nights sounds like a name for a porno movie rather then an album but with my mind in the gutter constantly, I just had to get that off my chest. As adults, they seemingly hate California, with their lyrics of “Fuck San Francisco, Fuck California” on opener California On My Mind. It’s nice they don’t hold back and they are great in that regard.

I think when analyzing each individual song, I’ve got a lot of good things to say. Tons of good songs with good late gems like Lawless River. It’s very good pop music. However, on the flipside the album as a whole gives a sense of mediocrity when shoved together. I don’t really have major favorites other then California On My Mind and New Hampshire. Though if I just flip to a song in the middle, I’d like what I hear.

I guess, what I’m saying is, the album for all intents and purposes seems mediocre. At times it flashes brilliance in the “indie pop” genre but lacks a consistent sound. It doesn’t make the album bad but I am just not feeling the album as much. The band just jumps around from sound to sound without progression and it really gets me lost as a listener. This goes for the style of lyricism: an angry emotional “Fuck California” on the opening track yet we get descriptive writing on New Hampshire. I like both songs but they don’t go very well back to back.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
The least you could do is enjoy the singles that do come out from this record. Wild Light does have the potential to do very well and it’s at least a decent album even though I don’t like to listen to it in full.

California On My Mind by Wild Light
New Hampshire by Wild Light

Tags: album