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There seems to be an outbreak of backward-hearkening to the early 90s among a lot of the bands I've been reviewing lately, including this one. The six contributors to Wavering Saints are geographically scattered, but bandleader M.S. Reynolds, like their obvious forebears in Pavement, hails from Stockton, California. This 6-song EP will take you back to the time when 7-inches were king, when there was a new GBV record in the bins every other week, and the coolest kid you knew was the one with the original pressing of Demolition Plot J-7.
"Subtle Believers" takes that distinctive Slanted & Enchanted buzzy guitar sound and transplants it to a midtempo space-pop ballad. Reynolds performs solo with an acoustic guitar on the wistful "Strike Date." A New Zealand pop influence is detectable on the drum-machine-driven fuzz-pop of "Homeless Teeth Transportation." The minute-long "I'll Take Care of You" consists of two intertwining guitar parts, and the band breaks out the ebow and American Analog Set-style organs on the brief "Tour the S*** out of This Motherf***er." "Magentic" is another ballad reminiscent of Pavement's "Here," but with a sparer arrangement and more reverb and trumpet. The best bands of that lo-fi indie-rock era often achieved brilliant pop alchemy via their casual experimentation; with Wavering Saints I'm not quite seeing the spark of vision that galvanized those bands to greatness, but this EP is still a nice little gem in the rough. (mike.04.06)
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