Having had the pleasure of witnessing this London guitar trio live last year, I found myself unusually excited about the latest release from The Wave Pictures, Instant Coffee Baby. The main focus, as expected, is the exceptional lyrical ability of frontman Dave Tattershall. The often snarling, domesticated ranting is prominent throughout the recording and fans of clever wordplay and short stories about awkward young love will revel in his poetic ranting. However, words aside, I feel this release is lacking something in the production of the recording. Whilst sometimes you almost feel it's intentional to leave in vocal lines which run astray, or rhythmic slips, by the end of thirteen songs you are left with a tiny part of you feeling you've just listened to a rehearsal recording not the final polished product. Ultimately though the songs just about hold their own, and it's almost just worth buying for the printed lyrics in the booklet. The Wave Pictures have been hotly tipped as the… more »

Having had the pleasure of witnessing this London guitar trio live last year, I found myself unusually excited about the latest release from The Wave Pictures, Instant Coffee Baby. The main focus, as expected, is the exceptional lyrical ability of frontman Dave Tattershall. The often snarling, domesticated ranting is prominent throughout the recording and fans of clever wordplay and short stories about awkward young love will revel in his poetic ranting. However, words aside, I feel this release is lacking something in the production of the recording. Whilst sometimes you almost feel it's intentional to leave in vocal lines which run astray, or rhythmic slips, by the end of thirteen songs you are left with a tiny part of you feeling you've just listened to a rehearsal recording not the final polished product. Ultimately though the songs just about hold their own, and it's almost just worth buying for the printed lyrics in the booklet. The Wave Pictures have been hotly tipped as the next indie band to break into the big time, Instant Coffee Baby is unlikely to propel them into the commercial spectrum just yet, but certainly edges them a step closer.