Austin shoegaze four-piece Holy Wave released their newest LP Five Of Cups today via Suicide Squeeze. Five Of Cups is Holy Wave’s sixth studio album, and for it they tapped Mexican shoegaze bands Mint Field and Lorelle Meets The Obsolete for contributions. To celebrate the album release, members of Holy Wave told us some of the influences, musical and otherwise, that shaped its sound — including Brian Wilson, Brian Eno, Can, The High Llamas, and more.
Stream Five Of Cups below, and read on for Holy Wave’s commentary…
The “Us and Them” into “Any Colour You Like” transition by Pink Floyd
I normally return to Dark Side of the Moon every couple of years, especially if we are starting to really work on an album. It’s nice to go back and see if I understand any of it yet. It’s like going to album writing university when you play that record. I don’t necessarily have a favorite track on the album I think they have all at times been my favorite but I will always have a major soft spot for “Us and Them,” and that transition into “Any Colour You Like” its just peak song writing in my opinion. The way that you expect to get the relief from the first chord of the next phrase and instead you get this hard cut to this fat synthesizer and this chill beat. And then you get “Any Colour You Like” which is one of the coolest songs of the 70s. We have definitely been trying to find a way to do a transition like that for a while. We kinda did our own little version at the end of “Cowprint,” it’s definitely not the same but it was fun to explore that idea.
The High Llamas – “Track Goes By”
Before we started working on this album I had become pretty obsessed with the High Llamas. Eating up their entire discography in a few months, listening so much that it was starting to have negative effects on relationships, no one wanted me to choose music anymore. I can’t say that this is my favorite of their songs, its definitely one of them but it made me want to write a song that was fun to sing along with and that had a riff that if we wanted to we could play on and on and on forever. I love the way they end that song, it never gets old, after 9 minutes you are still left wanting just a little more.
Lo Borges & Milton Nascimento – “O Trem Azul”
This song is just beautiful. It’s hard to not be inspired by something like it. Early in 2022 around January and February I was listening to Clube Da Esquina quite a bit and I love the whole album but this song will probably always be my favorite one on it. The chord progression is perfect, when it drops into the verse…so good! Then the chorus! Are you kidding me?? Perfection. I don’t think this song specifically inspired a certain song but I think the essence of it is there lingering around in a lot of the music we made for this record. Its sentiment.
The 90’s
I think more than any album before we kind of embraced our 90s roots on this one. I don’t think we have actively stopped ourselves from doing it in the past or anything like that but I think it just felt right on this record. We are all products of 90s music and culture, we started off practically trying to be My Bloody Valentine but quickly pivoted when we realized we could never do My Bloody Valentine like they do. I grew up listening to the Cranberries and R.E.M. nonstop. Each of the guys has their own major influences and we just kind of naturally explored those more this time. I can’t say all the influences made this record but I think that there are moments in a lot of it where you can hear some Portishead, or some Starflyer 59, or some High Llamas or even bands like Slowdive or Cocteau Twins. Well at least we hope so. Our version of those greats that is.
Can – “Halleluhwah”
I think we had all been in a bit of a Can thing when we started working on “The Darkest Timeline.” Maybe some of us more than others but it was in the air when we were working on it. It’s definitely not specifically like any can song I think we just wanted to kind of capture a feeling that they produce, while still trying to stay true to what we do. I used to play this song all the time at work when I worked at this ramen spot. It’s definitely a great song to move to, and I think we wanted “The Darkest Timeline” to also be a great song to move to.
Brian Eno
More than anyone, for me, Brian Eno really embodies the idea that music is more of a feeling than it is something topical or tangible. He taught me that creating an environment can be as(or more) impactful and inspiring than creating a story. Another Green World, especially, is a place I love to go no matter what situation I’m in. It’s like a medicine that works to heal a great number of symptoms (anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation, fatigue, etc.) I can only hope to build places that could have a fraction of that kind of cathartic impact on others.
Brian Wilson
Since I was a kid, I’ve felt connected with Brian Wilson. It’s inspiring that he really writes music that is accessible to a wide range of different ages and associations. He’s taught me to never be afraid to wear my feelings on my sleeve lyrically, and to explore themes and influences that are outside of the realm of popular music. He sings to us like an American child who is navigating life in an emotionally driven way in a culture that commonly discourages expressing emotion(especially in those of us that identify as male). As someone that is generally disgusted by most forms of nationalism, Brian Wilson has a way of making me appreciate my American-ness when few others can. It’s tough to be you sometimes, but there’s no one else you can be. I guess I also feel like sometimes I just wasn’t made for these times.
Radiohead (OK Computer – Hail to the Thief)
There’s a few bands that we always kinda come back to for inspiration and Radiohead is a band that has a very special era of music for us. There were plenty of moments on this record (and past records) where we would kinda want a Jonny Greenwood vibe on guitar or try to find synth sounds you might hear on Kid A or Amnesiac. They mastered outsider pop music and that’s just a very sweet spot musically for us.
Dreams
I (Julian) contributed a track on this record called “Nothing Is Real” and it was written during the peak of 2020 when I was just holed up in my bedroom. My living situation at the time was one where the roommates all kinda stayed in their rooms and I certainly did most of the time. I had dreamed of my mother three nights in a row at one point and she had been gone for about 6 months at that point. I have no words to describe the feeling of seeing her in the dream world and then waking up to such an insane reality we were all experiencing. So I would kinda sedate myself to try to get back to sleep in hopes of having more dreams like that. I like to think that the music reflects the feeling of confusion and the dream like state I was living in at that point in time.
El Paso
El Paso is our home and it will always play a part in our music and how we do things. We always like to throw in little El Paso references. It’s always becoming more clear to us how influential it has been to our music and tastes.
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Holy Wave are touring across the southern US through August, and they’ll embark on a larger trip with Ulrika Spacek in the fall. That tour includes two NYC stops: October 21 at Mercury Lounge and October 22 at Baby’s All Right. All dates below.
Holy Wave – 2023 Tour Dates
8/8 – Andy’s – Denton, TX
8/9 – Opolis – Norman, OK
8/11 – Back Alley Ballyhoo – Indianapolis, IN
8/12 – JJs Bohemia – Chattanooga, TN
8/13 – Upstairs at Avondale – Birmingham, AL
8/15 – Alabama Music Box – Mobile, AL
8/16 – Continental Club – Houston, TX
8/17 – Paper Tiger – San Antonio, TX
10/12 Constellation Room- Santa Ana, CA ~
10/14 Sister Bar- Albuquerque, NM ~
10/15 High Dive- Denver, CO ~
10/17 Sleeping Village- Chicago, IL ~
10/18 Lager House- Detroit, MI ~
10/20 No Fun- Troy, NY ~
10/21 Mercury Lounge- New York, NY ~
10/22 Baby’s All Right- Brooklyn, NY ~
10/23 Metro Gallery- Baltimore, MD ~
10/25 The Earl- Atlanta, GA ~
10/26 Gasa Gasa- New Orleans, LA ~
10/27 Levitation- Austin, TX ~
10/29 Love Buzz- El Paso, TX ~
10/30 Rebel Lounge- Phoenix, AZ ~
10/31 Casbah- San Diego, CA ~
11/1 Lodge Room- Los Angeles, CA ~
~ with Ulrika Spacek