PALE WAVES
Unwanted (Dirty Hit)
For the generation who learned what ‘punk’ was from Avril Lavigne’s Let Go, plastered their walls with Kerrang! posters of Gerard Way, and can still remember the in-order track listing of the Twilight OST, the nostalgia of pop-punk is always hard to resist. Manchester outfit Pale Waves didn’t start out with this sound, but as third album Unwanted shows, have carved out a space in the continuation of that particular angsty, melodic subgenre.
To my ageing millennial ears, this sits between the bleached hard rock of The Pretty Reckless and the anthemic teen girl confessionals of Paramore, though falls just shy of the aggression or poppiness that makes those two bands great. Still, there’s quality to be found in Unwanted, especially after its halfway point – the instant singalong chorus of Only Problem; peppy, mean girl clapper You’re So Vain; drunk-crying-while-dancing-in-the-front-of-the-band single Reasons To Live.
Album closer So Sick (Of Missing You) is a strong curtain call, and possibly Pale Waves’ most Lavigne-esque moment in its lyrics and singer Heather Baron-Gracie’s Americanised twang. Not a reinvention of the wheel, but a valiant effort to keep it spinning.
words HANNAH COLLINS
Unwanted by Pale Waves