Every month, Consequence It puts the spotlight on emerging artists with CoSign. Coming in August 2024, we're excited for Indiana quintet Wishy and their irresistible debut, Triple Seven.
It’s 2004 and the era of big-budget alt-rock has reached its peak. Rob Cavallo and Butch Walker are cranking out thumping pop-rock records and both Good Charlotte and Sum-41 have filmed videos for their hit songs in empty swimming pools. Michelle Branch is singing soaring choruses and Third Eye Blind’s snare drum sound is king. Meanwhile, Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites are kids in the Midwest, listening to their siblings’ LimeWire downloads, surrounded by the bombastic glow of early 2000s pop radio, and learning to play guitar.
“Once my older brother got LimeWire, it was Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, Silverstein, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, all that stuff… the first time I saw those music videos of those bands just rocking out, wearing skate shoes, playing in empty swimming pools, getting up to mischief on tour, I was like, ‘That’s got to be me. No matter what happens in my life, I need to make it,’” Kratuer recalls. Zoom“I was completely captivated.”
Twenty years later, Krauter and Pitchkites now front a band of their own in their hometown of Indianapolis, a quintet called Wishy. Their excellent debut album, Triple sevenarrived this month and bears a strong resemblance to the ecstatic power pop and dreamlike alt-rock that floated through the airwaves during her childhood. Even the album cover features these nostalgic notes: a bright red tomato with a backlit slot machine inside, set against a velvety navy fabric, all evoking an era dominated by highly saturated colors and bold contrasts.
At first, Wishy's sound was much closer to shoegaze, and by signing to independent label Winspear in 2023, they positioned themselves to be another revival act. Their big entry last fall was “Bagel,” an explosive yet dreamy track with all the hallmarks of the genre: undulating, mellow guitar straight from the Kevin Shields playbook, hushed harmonies between Pitchkites and Krauter, and an undeniable sense of unease.
But subsequent singles demonstrated a need to move beyond the introverted crutches of the now-in-demand genre. They wanted their debut album to be louder, bigger, more ill-mannered. After all, as much as Krauter and Pitchkites were influenced by bands like My Bloody Valentine, that's not exactly the music that left lasting impressions on them in their formative years.
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