Bio

Marking a new chapter in their trajectory, the band presents a cosmic shift in vision, fresh faces, and a brand-new album titled Speck. In this kaleidoscopic record - produced by Dylan Wall (Great Grandpa, Tangerine, Hibou, Versing, Scarves) at Hills Studio in Seattle and mastered by the legendary Jack Endino (Mudhoney, Nirvana, Soundgarden, L7, Mark Lanegan) - the band embarks on a sonic odyssey through the diverse genres they proudly call home. Across the dynamic eleven tracks, the journey unfolds: from churning post-punk in "Alternate Reality" to James Murphy-esque electro dance vibes in "Slow Collapse," from thrashing garage beats in "Phasing" to surfy psych undertones in "Surrender," and the haunting slow dirge of "Never Wake Up." With Dylan Fuentes at the helm, and the rhythmic tandem of Mitch Midkiff on bass and Miles Hubbard on drums, Weep Wave unveils their tightest sound and lineup yet.

Over the years they’ve played with a long list of notable names including Los Bitchos, Blackwater Holylight, Gustaf, Pup, Fat Dog, The Bobby Lees, Godcaster, Habibi, ReignWolf, White Reaper, Destroy Boys and Spirit Mother. They’ve also performed at esteemed festivals Treefort Music Festival, Capitol Hill Block Party, FreakOut Fest, Fisherman’s Village Music Festival, South Sound Block Party and Off Beat Music Fest. Weep Wave released a new album, multiple EPs and Singles in that time, one of which was featured as KEXP's "Song of the Day". On top of it all, they’ve done multiple tours down the West Coast and played a few showcases in NYC.

Press

Am I awake? Or am I dreaming? Or am I having a propellant nightmare? Either way, I’m invested. This track makes me feel like I should be running through a field or racing down a highway at top speed.

Eva Walker - VIce

Local post-punk band Weep Wave haven't released a record since their angsty and anxious 2019 debut, but that doesn't mean they've been MIA. 

When I asked singer/guitarist Dylan Fuentes where the band's been all this time, he said, "Oh, we've been here, lol. We put out S.A.D. at the beginning of 2019, went on a big ass tour, played some festivals, opened for some bigger bands, we were doing the damn thing and then COVID shut everything down for almost three years! I think our last show before COVID was at Southgate Roller Rink a week before everything shut down.

"Quarantine was such a weird time to be in a band. Playing live and going on tour is what it's all about for me. I feel the most alive when I'm on the road with my best friends playing in a new city every night. The OG lineup formed around 2016 and most bands have a shelf life of 2-3 years. This newest version of the band got together toward the end of quarantine and we started playing shows again as soon as we were allowed to, but we basically had to build back all that momentum."

In April Weep Wave will release Speck, their long-awaited follow-up to S.A.D., and today The Stranger is honored to premiere the video for the album's first single "Rebirth Mantra." The song begins as a charging anthem about identity—Fuentes sings with a dry, borderline sarcastic tone, "It comes back around again / Memories from a distant lifetime / Or maybe one you haven't seen yet / They call it deja vu."

But what initially feels like an eyeroll at the notion of personal growth then shifts into a spacey, melodic meditation on embracing the opportunity to evolve. "This time I'll be more courageous / Caring and empathetic," Fuentes promises. "I'll act without hesitation / I am present and without fear."

A pretty fitting theme, really. For the band, for all of us.

Can you talk a little bit about the lyrics/inspiration behind the song? Rebirth is a big theme! But I feel like it’s one that a lot of people can relate to, especially right now as we slowly (oh so very slowly) claw our way out of the pile of rubble or whatever’s left of the world as we knew it after, well, everything. Where were you mentally when you were experiencing or observing this sense of or desire for rebirth that inspired the song?

I think a lot of people think about how they would live their lives differently if they could do a total restart on their lives or if they got a second chance at a big key moment in their life. This song is the mantra of how I'd want to live my life differently or the person I'd want to be if I got that chance. It's also a reminder that you don't have to go back to the beginning to make big positive changes in your life and it's never too late to become the best version of yourself.

Speaking of rebirth, if you could be reincarnated as any animal, what animal would it be and why?

If I was reborn as an animal I'd want to come back as the laziest orange cat that ever existed. I would lay in the sun and do absolutely nothing all day, every day.

I hear some Al Burian/Challenger vibes in the chorus. Challenger, I think, is vastly underrated! Am I imagining things?

I actually don't know either of those artists, lol, but I'm all about music/lyrics that are angsty/angry/heavy paired up against introspective/vulnerable/soft flavors. It's a juxtaposition that I really dig lately.

What other artists and genres inspired this new chapter of Weep Wave?

Lately I've been listening to a lot of heavy '80s rock, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation, jazzy stuff like Bruno Pernadas, those cool Japanese city pop record comps that Light in the Attic keeps putting out, and that new synthy Osees album that no one seems to like, haha.

Megan Seling - The Stranger

Sometimes it feels as though Seattle is sealing itself in a concrete tomb.

It's an uncomfortable (and obvious) truth that at this point borders on cliche; our city is buckling underneath the weight of skyscrapers and pop-up condominiums. Our civic culture is spreading itself thin to include big business and the transplants such a thing attracts. Seattle is an increasingly expensive city in which to live, to the point where it is becoming an untenable place for people in the working and artistic classes to live. These are all things you've heard before, and probably many, many times by now. What do you do when the toll of the place you love comes with a heavy cost?

For Seattle psych trio Weep Wave, there are no easy answers to this quandry. They power through by turning up the volume on their amplifiers and mine the depths of their emotions. On their new album S.A.D. (an appropriate acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder), the band explores the bold, expansive differences of the changing seasons (which can sometimes be pretty drastic here in the Pacific Northwest when you add the often-grey skies).

"Concrete," the third single from the album, starts slow, squalling, and heavy as its namesake, speeding up to a sprint through city streets crowded with people and the weight they carry individually. Its lyrics explore the nature of the city being swallowed by the insatiable monster known as capitalism, anticipating a cement tomb, "death by a thousand cuts," clouds in the sky shedding their tears all over the sidewalks, and mothers who will sell your soul for the right price. There is a darkness cast that is hard to escape, the sound of cement trucks pulling up behind you and the impending terror of being trapped in something you can't break through.

The band offered a few words about "Concrete," which you can read below:

Our new record “S.A.D.” is a concept album and is broken up into the four seasons. Concrete is the first song of grey cold winter. The lyrics talk about Seattle being constantly under construction and losing nature and it's own history in its wake. I think the line “You crave to pave your own grave” sums it up pretty well.

Martin Douglas - KEXP