Holy Wave
Five of Cups
SUICIDE SQUEEZE
If you think the phrase “five of cups” has something to do with dishes or bra sizes, you sorely need a friend (or Google search) to set you straight. Perchance said pal dabbles in the dark arts too, bonus!—that’s the true source of the term: “Five of cups,” in the mystical diversion of tarot card reading, signifies disappointment.
Austin’s long-running Holy Wave have danced all night with other emotions, from 2013’s Evil Hits to the following year’s Relax to 2018’s Adult Fear. For musicians who don’t really wear melancholia on their sleeve, they show it instead on what’s inside the Five of Cups record sleeve. Oftentimes, the new record overfloweth with a lush-yet-tempered instrumentation that’s undeniably pleasant, if not downright attractive. That is, unless you have an unshakable hatred of soft rock and the smarminess that usually comes with it (you know the style: cooing voices, easy-to-comprehend lyrics, clean instrumentation). Tame Impala’s Lonerism will likely come to mind in terms of contemporary references, but any albums adjacent to grunge—or even ones with more than a little distorted guitar—will not. That Holy Wave are often tagged “psych” seems, at least at this point in their career, more a testament to their mailing address than to their sound.
What makes Holy Wave a better band than most is how they converse with their audience while going through an emotional state as loaded as disappointment. Many of us react like busted fire hydrants, indiscriminately blasting water at close ones and strangers alike. Holy Wave systematically analyze the emotion as if they were musicologists. Refreshingly devoid of condescension and card tricks, their nine-song synopsis is straight-faced pop music that delivers straight up. Halfway through the record they seem to have arrived at an answer with the equally whimsical- and forlorn-sounding “Nothing Is Real.” But, like dedicated scientists testing out their hypothesis, they spend side B delving even deeper into their experiment with “The Darkest Timeline,” “Nothing in the Dark” and—wait for it—“Happier,” which brings the album to the aptest of conclusions with the assistance of Mint Field vocalist Estrella del Sol.
Five of Cups demonstrates that Holy Wave can be just as authentic—both to themselves and to the concept of disappointment—without having to resort to nasty musical trappings. That’s because they’re mature enough to understand that the byproduct of consciously, carefully, and even lovingly dealing with disappointment can be music that’s alluring and mesmerizing, instead of music that’s just plain mean. More than just an aesthetically pleasing record, Five of Cups dishes up a deeper satisfaction that hits on an emotional and even spiritual level. After more than a decade playing together, Holy Wave show here that they aren’t just master musicians—they’re master alchemists.
