Album Review: Pale Waves - My Mind Makes Noises

Pop music is a reflection of its time, whether that be the sunny optimism of the 60s, the obsession with technology in the 80s, or today's brain dead era that treats anything approaching intellectualism as a cause to rally the masses with pitchforks and torches. I want there to be more to this time and place than an aversion to intelligence. Pop music, regardless of the incarnation, is supposed to be the fluffy soundtrack that propels us through life. The reality of the times is why I have spent very little time or attention on pop music these days. I find no enjoyment in computerized blips and bleeps, capped off with lyrics that think twelve repetitions of the same word is good enough. Everyone is looking for a quick fix, and that's not really what pop music is.

Good pop music is fun, but fun in a way that fits the cultural zeitgeist. Right now, that might mean pop music that is tinged with an undertone of righteous anger, but I don't see it that way. Neither does Pale Waves. Their music is pop, and it's fun, but it comes with an undertone of melancholy that sets it apart, and reminds us we're all just trying to get through each day without having our heads explode.

Pale Waves sound is one I have described as 'Daria rock'. If you are of a certain age (which I am), you remember that show as a hilarious comedy that made us laugh at the absurdity of being young and disillusioned. It also, however, made us sad when we realized how accurate the stereotypes were, and how easily they transferred into adulthood. Pale Waves music achieves that same feat, like a Technicolor film noir. The backdrop is bright and shiny, but Heather Baron-Gracie's lyrics and delivery have an icy tinge to them that is detached the same way we now feel further apart from each other, despite having never been more connected.

The buzz started last year when "Television Romance" was released. That sound captured people's attention because it took a sound that we were used to hearing, and twisted it just enough that it felt new and fresh. That sound was the bright, bouncy song that made us feel like when the sugar high was already wearing off. It was euphoria after the fact, where we can appreciate the feeling more fully. That song appears here on the record, and still acts like a stiletto piercing our pop loving hearts.

Let's get one thing out of the way early; as the singles have kept coming, there has been criticism that the band is already repeating themselves, and the songs are too similar. That isn't entirely unfair, but it misses the bigger point; Pale Waves is establishing their musical identity, and that entails making it clear. They do that by delivering an album that will appeal to fans from track one to track fourteen.

"My Mind Makes Noises" is, in my mind, the logical follow-up statement to Taylor Swift's "1989". Both records trade in the slightly synthesized, slightly detached pop sound. But whereas Taylor was writing for sunny days, Pale Waves live under cloudier atmospheres. As we all know, those are the days where the air feels alive with the static of a building storm.

And a storm is what Pale Waves are.  "Eighteen", "There's a Honey", and "Noises" welcome us into the record with songs that are already familiar to us. They are like cold fire, somehow pulling us in while keeping us at arm's distance. They are also classic pop nuggets, with hooks that don't seem impressive the first time you hear them, until you realize you still find yourself humming them the next day. There is music that tries to be catchy, and there is music that is naturally memorable. For being so young, Pale Waves falls on the right side of that equation effortlessly.

We can also put it this way; do you remember how obvious it is that Fall Out Boy is pandering to modern listeners to keep themselves relevant? This record is the complete opposite; a record that sounds modern and up-to-date, but without a hint of pandering. This is really who they are, and because you can hear the authenticity in what Heather is singing about, the music becomes that much more vibrant and embraceable. The skipping vocals in "Loveless Girl" are a natural part of the sound, and not like a botched cosmetic surgery, as we saw from Fall Out Boy's "Young and Menace".

And to answer the critics, there is "When Did I Lose It All", one of the album's quasi-ballads, and a unique song in their catalog. With the rhythm slowed down, and the energy tamped down, the beauty of the band's sound is put on full display. There is a lush depth to the layers of guitars and synths that makes the band sound stadium sized. This, and not whatever Imagine Dragons is doing, is how pop/rock is supposed to sound on the biggest stages.

"One More Time" is as massive a pop song as there has been in years, and is an obvious example of how Pale Waves will be headlining arenas in short order. In fact, the only negative I can find with the record is that the band didn't find room in the running order to include "New Year's Eve". They already have too many good songs. What a problem to have...

Look, I don't review a lot of pop music anymore, because I find myself out of touch with where the scene is. I've aged out of the window the mainstream is aiming for. But that doesn't mean I don't still love pop music when it's done well. "1989" brought me back to paying attention to what is going on, and I'm grateful it has, because the time it took me to grow into that type of pop is what allows me to hear Pale Waves for what they are. "My Mind Makes Noises" is more than just a debut album. It is a record that plants a flag at the summit of the pop mountain, boldly proclaiming their intention to claim the entire landscape as their own.

In the world of pop as it stands in 2018, they very well could. "My Mind Makes Noises" is a masterful reminder that sometimes collective wisdom exists because the truth is obvious to everyone.