You Can Be My Wave

Origami Angel is a new discovery for me, but I've quickly become a fan. They are pretty much the perfect power pop package. They write excellent emo-tinged songs that long for the good ol' times, and score them with loud, spontaneous suites. I love how adventurous and playful the band gets with the direction many of these songs take. One moment we're participating in a ukulele led island sing-along, the next we're being pummelled with heavy rock riffs (The Brightest Days). The band, somehow, manages to also meld death metal blast beats and guitar discordance with surfy beach rock (Thank You, New Jersey). Kobayashi Mary (My Very Own) moves at a breakneck skate-punk pace, however, the band is apparently in enough control to slow things down on a dime for a ska verse. Just moments later, the band plunges you into one of the most unexpected and nastiest of breakdowns. Maybe it's a tad garish and over-the-top how much the band messes with your expectations with constant switch-ups and start/stop dynamics, but for me personally, I love how it keeps me guessing.

The band shows more restraint on Second Best Friend and Picture Frame, the latter of which is my favourite tune on this collection. I love the stark contrast in the sense of space between the verses and chorus on this one. The verses feel intimate with a very blink-inspired, nursery rhyme riff and some gentle side-sticking on the snare. By comparison, the chorus sounds expansive with very full distorted guitar chords and an otherworldly, enveloping vocal treatment. It is a perfectly written and executed song. I'm a little less in love with Second Best Friend, however, the nearly minute and a half long outro does feel quite grand and epic with its driving half-time beat, high tremolo picked guitar leads, and some distant gang vocals that are arena ready.

As strong as the first half of this record is, I do find the project becomes a little tame by the end. Ryland Heagy's guitar virtuosity has been reigned in, it no longer feels like a whirlwind of ideas, and the ideas the band does bring forward aren't as compelling as earlier cuts. This begins with the ukulele interlude Looking Out which is rather melancholic despite being back in the island setting. I'm not particularly engaged by the melody of this one. Then we get My PG County Summer which does have a decent guitar riff and those The Rentals-esque Moog synthesizer leads. It firmly plants us in nostalgic 90s power pop territory, but the song falls short of reaching the level of excitement previous cuts did. The album finishes off with Few and Far Between which if we discount the interlude track, is probably my least favourite. It reminds me of Motion City Soundtrack in a way that would just make me rather listen to Motion City Soundtrack. It's not bad, but I don't find it all that memorable either. This song does, however, come full circle, reprising sections from the first track to bring the theme of this collection home.

The first half of this album is really impressive. It sounds huge (especially considering they're a duo), the performances are fantastic, and with how adventurous the song structures are, I'm always found on the edge of my seat. Even though the excitement does taper off at the end as the structures become more straightforward, I still think the band comes through with very good pop tunes. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the catalogue, along with whatever they have coming down the pipe next.