Record Review // Weep Wave "S.A.D."

$20 //
Edition of 200 //
https://weepwave.bandcamp.com/album/s-a-d //

Ever since I received it, I've been listening to "S.A.D." and in some ways I feel like I get more lost in it than I actually think about what to write about or how to begin typing anything.   In some ways, I wish I could just sit down and take the time to write several paragraphs about each song because this is not only my favorite album of 2019, it's my favorite album in quite some time.

"Columbia Calling" is the first song on "S.A.D." and it is a song in the way that maybe someone like Local H would create a song for an album that feels kind of like an introduction but also just seems like an amazing song all on its won.   Acoustic guitars and harmonicas just blare on through the darkness.   It's something that- if you listen to only that song on this album you might think it sets the tone and that could help you decide whether or not you like this entire album, but the fact is it gets much different after this.

"Welcome Home" kicks in much louder and faster.   There is a punk element within this rock and it reminds me of bands like No Motiv or Ten Foot Pole (who remind me of each other)   The thing with this is that when you listen to it the first time, you might go "Whoa, that was a jump" but after listening to this even twice or three times, you know that it's coming and you expect it which just makes it so much sweeter when the music shifts from calm to chaos on song one to two.

On "Welcome Home" there is also this part which breaks down into the lines: "Thanks for listening / I said / Thanks for listening / I know my moan is defeaning / But / Thanks for listening"   This gets stuck in my head at least twice a day, sometimes to the point where I have to put the record on and listen to it.   This line of "Thanks for listening" also reappears later on the album, during the song "Losing Sleep", and that makes me love it even more.

What comes after those first two songs is a sea of rock that ranges from fast paced to slower and it crosses those lines between punk and alternative.   The songs are complex in the way that they aren't all just verse/chorus/verse and they seem to have more layers than your typical rock song.   The length of this album also feels important because sometimes you can listen to a thirty minute album that feels like forever and other times you can listen to a ninety minute album that seems to go by in a flash.

With "S.A.D.", Weep Wave manages to create an album which feels heavy-- it seems to take up a good amount of time-- and yet at the end you don't feel like you've been listening to it for as long as you have.   You don't get to the end and go "Oh, that's it?"  It's like watching a three hour film that feels like it goes by in an hour and there is still a lot that happens so you still feel like you have a lot to talk about afterwards.   The more times you listen to this, the better it becomes and, yes, I can tell you that based on experience and the number of times I've rocked out to this one already (and more to come!)