Holy Wave’s new LP, Relax, released by Reverberation Appreciation Society, provides music lovers with a sweet, melodic fix that consists of some haunting guitar riffs, heavy bass, and hypnotizing vocals. As a whole, these eerie vibrations and bizarre sounds provoke a laidback and adventurous tone throughout the record. These elements blend together in a unique way to provide listeners with a trance-like experience that is similar in composition to other psychedelic bands such as The Black Angels, Night Beats, and Strangers Family Band, but yet so independently groovy. 

With the mesmerizing combination of psychedelia and surf rock, these Texas based musicians share a great quality in being able to create a balance between slow downbeat songs like “Shamania” and quick energetic tracks like “Psychological Thriller” and “Mouth Mountain.” Overall, these songs are meant to stir relief and pleasure whether it is caused by the fuzzy guitar loops or the thudding of the drum and bass. The album isn’t titled Relax for nothing. The impeccable chemistry found between the vocal melodies and rhythm of the music itself is the primary element responsible for the sensations felt. These 43 minutes of infectious tunes establish a warm and easygoing ambience that constitute good vibes and good feelings.

In comparison to the band’s first album, Evil Hits, Relax truly reflects the growth the band has undergone in expanding their musical influences and capabilities, playing together on this record as a five-piece band for the first time. Holy Wave has grown tremendously in the way that this album is much more vocally lead and experimented with. Take for example the track “Change Your Head Ecstatic Moment,” in which the vocal harmonies are what take over and lead the song into a blissful daze that leaves listeners in a state of awe. This causes a romantically tranquil effect, especially in the songs “Wet & Wild” and “Sol Love.” This state of awe is later transformed into nostalgia that is brought upon by the sweet, harmonic sounds of the keyboards that resemble sounds similar to those of the late Ray Manzarek.

The band taps into the fundamentals of several genres that range from psychedelic to classic rock bringing together unique sounds in this over all outstanding LP influenced by a wide range of rock’n’roll elements. The distant echoes in the vocals and daunting drum and bass beats establish a build up that satisfies the ear with an equal balance between high and low energy throughout the record. This album consists of songs that are hummable, diverse, intimate and that are bound to leave you feeling sedated and chanting along. It makes you do what it tells you to, relax.