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As Ondas in my basement / Image by author
The only task I was given when I first started writing for this song of the week feature was that the music had to be relatively recent. However I can’t for the life of me as we approach the end of 2015, not at some point include the track that filled me with excitement at the start of the year.
As Ondas (meaning ‘the waves’ in Portuguese) are a 3 piece from London featuring members from around the world, from the bands Lady Neptune, Shopping and Joey Fourr (also would highly recommend), and have been exciting us with snippets of their self-described “no-wave-surf” melodies for almost 2 years now. The song is sung in Spanish and the video consists of footage from the tour that the band went on last year with Witching Waves, during which they came and played in my basement in Liverpool (pictured) to a packed crowd surprised by the enjoyable melodies considering they’d been invited to a punk show.
‘Natural’ is driven by the rhythms of the fuzzy steel drum-like melodies of the lead guitar line that gives the song a “Caribbean flavour” (a term I use in jest), this fits perfectly with the bassline, which I adore for a number of reasons. There’s always been a consensus among my friends involved in music that the best bass lines are those that have the complexity and structure of lead guitar riffs, and the bass in this song fits this criteria brilliantly. Along with the non-confrontation drumming, and Ochi’s lead vocals, this creates the perfect harmony of surf rock that has been tried, tested, created and delivered by some of the best indie pop/DIY bands out there.
Every Wednesday, one of our young contributors picks a piece of music that has meant something to them in the past seven days. Get in touch if you have a track to tell us about!