Sometimes, all we want is to stay home and watch the sunset, but our worries always speak louder. This and other feelings are portrayed by the Californian band Wallows, who arrived in 2024 with a brand new album called Model.
In case you don’t know them, Wallows is an indie rock band formed by Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters and Cole Preston, who are childhood friends. Together since 2017, the trio is releasing new songs that describe human intimacy, like the pains of growing up, relationships and vulnerabilities. Let’s take a look at their discography!
NOTHING HAPPENS (2019)
After several singles and an EP called “Spring”, the band debuted their first studio album named Nothing Happens, in 2019. It’s a portrait of teenage years and all of the insecurities, questions and changes that came with it. For me, the highlight of this album is understanding that it doesn’t matter how difficult it is to leave the past behind, you need to move on. We change, and that’s ok. Nothing happens at the same time as everything happens.
My top picks are:
- “Do Not Wait”: for when you feel lost among life changes;
- “Remember When”: a song about missing days that are long gone;
- “Are You Bored Yet?” (feat. Clairo): for those that search deeper connections with people, in a era of shallow relationships;
- “Worlds Apart”: a song about feeling disconnected from someone;
- “Scrawny”: when you don’t want to change, even if you already changed.
TELL ME THAT IT’S OVER (2022)
Escaping from this nostalgic feeling for a while, the boys released their sophomore album Tell Me That It’s Over with a different approach. The band succeeds to put together the best of 80s sonority with indie rock, which they know how to do incredibly well.
It’s an album about the attempt of moving on and the relief of ending a relationship. You don’t want the album to end, even though they ask all the time to tell that it’s over.
Here we go with my top picks:
- “Guitar Romantic Search Adventure”: when you don’t want the relationship to end;
- “Hard to Believe”: a “we need to talk” song;
- “I Don’t Want to Talk”: when all you need is to isolate yourself;
- “Hurts Me”: when you realize that you don’t need to be in that situation if you constantly get hurt;
- “At the End of the Day”: a “it’s about to end” song.
It’s the perfect album to hear when you are going through a breakup.
MODEL (2024)
In their third album Model, Wallows are reinventing themselves and, at the same time, perfecting their craft. A much more mature record, the lyrics go from one extreme to the opposite. The album starts with “Your Apartment“, wondering who your ex is hanging out with, to thinking about the death of your life partner, in “Only Ecstasy“.
My favorite tracks:
- “Only Ecstasy”: a song to dedicate to your sweetheart;
- “Your Apartment”: for all the girls who have been through a difficult break-up;
- “Calling After Me”: when you want to turn your situationship into a real partner;
- “You (Show Me Where My Days Went)”: when you find the right person after a long time;
- “Canada”: for when you realize it’s what you’ve been looking for.
If there’s one thing the band knows how to do very well, it’s how to close their albums: the last tracks always round off the feeling of the record beautifully. In that case, “Only Ecstasy” describes the deepest part of truly loving: “Beyond your falling tears, I can see generations in your face, I see the eyes of unborn daughters, I see you on a deathbed too, not long before or after me ‘cuz I don’t wanna outlive you”.
If I haven’t convinced you yet that their music is worth getting to know, here are 3 singles to get you started:
- “WISH ME LUCK”
- “Quarterback”
- “OK”
If you want to see them live, we have good news! In an interview with Rolling Stone Brasil, the trio said that they want to return for shows in Brazil: “We can’t wait to get back to Brazil. We hope to come back next year (2025),” said Dylan Minnette.
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The article above was edited by Maria Clara Polcan.
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