New Music: Pale Waves - Kiss (Video)

Yes yes. I know all the arguments against Pale Waves. To a certain extent I agree with them.

Their songs all sound the same. Their songs all sound the same. Their songs all sound the same. Their songs all sound the same. Their songs all sound the same. Their songs all sound the same.

And then there’s the argument that people only like them because of their indie goth pop look. 

Which I don’t agree with. 

Having seen a hyped-up energetic crowd bouncing up and down and singing along to every word of every song the band played at Heaven, London recently, it certainly didn’t feel like a gig where people were only there because of the bands style. They were fully invested in the music. People might buy into or identify with the look, but only if they’re passionate about the songs first and foremost.

And what a gig Heaven was. With a light show that screamed ‘we want to make this look as amazing as we can in a small venue' and with Heather becoming a rather excellent front woman (especially when she put down her guitar and pulled some shapes) it was a watershed moment for Pale Waves. At that point it left me feeling right here, right now, they’re unstoppable. Whatever the arguments against them.

Today the band continue their upward trajectory with a new video. Accusations that Heather is actually the daughter of Robert Smith won’t be helped here. It’s undeniable that the guitars in this tune could quite easily be taken from one of Fat Bob and the Goths poppier moments. And Heather’s got the oddball eye rolls and jerky quirky hand movements down to an art form. The fact that the song is called Kiss – virtually the same title as one of The Cure’s songs (which incidentally features one of my favourite opening lyrics of any album: “Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, your tongue is like poison, so swollen it fills up my mouth.”)  doesn’t help either. So as much I want to throw the ‘all their songs sound the same’ argument into the ring, there’s something about this track (namely those similarities to one of my favourite bands) and Pale Waves’ confidence and energy that keeps me locked in.

Pale Waves - Kiss (Video)