by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
For the past few years, Scranton’s Great Wave have been crafting a unique style of psychedelic dream-pop, but it leans a bit more toward the experimental than the “pop” tag might suggest. It’s relaxed and accessible, but the band don’t always play to common song structures, instead enacting overall feeling. There are hooks and plenty of memorable moments, but they aren’t always the focus, as texture is the most often the alluring presence in their songs. The band released the eponymous “Great Wave,” a hypnotic stand-alone single back in April and they’re back today with another single, the soulful “Orange Juice,” a song as gorgeous as it is inspirational.
Revolving around the idea of “holding on” and making forward progress, “Orange Juice,” is a friendly reminder that things will eventually get better. It’s an important reminder for anyone feeling impossibly low, and the words are met by the composition’s beauty, with swirling keys and guitars sweeping like fog past the moonlight. The entire thing shimmers with a surrealistic drift, but it’s the drums that really steal the show, with a hip-hop indebted beat that your favorite “boom-bap” rappers would utterly annihilate. The fusion of the breaking beat with the tranquility of the song’s melody is the perfect example of Great Wave’s knack for layered dream-pop bliss.