Witching Waves are a

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England.

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...

hailed their debut long-player as one of the best albums of 2014. They have released three full-length albums on independent record labels.

History

Witching Waves (Emma Wigham: drums; Mark Jasper: guitars) formed in late 2013 following the dissolution of Wigham's previous band Weird Menace, which Jasper had also joined in its final incarnation. The new band released a debut self-titled EP on the Suplex Cassettes label the same year and a cassette single on

Soft Power Records Soft Power Records was a Scottish independent record label and online record shop based in Livingston, West Lothian and active from 2010 to 2016. It was founded by Bek & Graeme Galloway. It specialised in indie and noise pop music. All of thei ...

in early 2014. Witching Waves’ first album ''Fear of Falling Down'' was released in 2014 to positive reviews. A cassette EP of cover versions was also issued as a joint release with As Ondas, including each band versioning one of the other band's songs. Witching Waves became a trio the same year with the addition of bassist Ed Shellard (also of Gloss Rejection). 2015 saw a split EP of new material, released to mark a joint UK tour with Rattle; the band also previewed new tracks from their forthcoming second album, including “Twister” which Clash called “feral yet sharply melodic”. ''Crystal Café'' was released in 2016 to widespread praise, drawing comparisons to

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

the Vaselines The Vaselines are a Scottish alternative rock band. Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986, the band was originally a duo between its songwriters Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee, but later added James Seenan and Eugene's brother Charlie Kelly on ba ...

and

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...

. The album was released in the United States by HHBTM Records, and short tours of the US and Europe followed; the band also played

Indietracks Indietracks was an annual indie pop music festival at the Midland Railway in Butterley, Derbyshire, UK. The main site was located at Swanwick Junction. Bands played in variety of locations, including a restored church, in a train shed, and on ...

. Estella Adeyeri (also of Charmpit and Big Joanie; previously of Dirtygirl and Junk) joined Witching Waves the same year, replacing Shellard on bass. In April 2019 the band released their third album, ''Persistence'', on

Specialist Subject Records Specialist Subject Records is an English independent record label initially founded in Leeds in 2007, but based largely in Exeter since being revived in 2009. They have been described as a "powerhouse" of DIY Indie Rock. History Specialist Subj ...

. Like all of their releases so far it was recorded by Jasper at his (now former) Hackney recording studio Sound Savers. The band recorded the album on tape live over two days. In September 2019, they supported Australian band

Camp Cope Camp Cope are an Australian alternative rock trio formed in 2015 in Melbourne, Victoria. The group consists of lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Georgia "Georgia Maq" McDonald, bassist Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich, and drummer Sarah "Thomo" Thomp ...

on a UK tour.

Discography

Albums

*''Fear of Falling Down'' -

, LP/DD (2014)

Odd Box Records Odd Box Records was a British DIY indiepop record label started in London but was finally based in Cardiff, Wales, following relocation in 2016. It was hailed as a "big presence on the indiepop scene." History Odd Box was launched in 2009, aft ...

, LP/DD (2017) *''Crystal Café'' - Soft Power Records UK / HHBTM Records USA, LP/DD (2016) *''Persistence'' -

, LP/CD/DD (2019)

Extended plays

*''Witching Waves irst Tape' - Suplex Cassettes, MC/DD (2013) *''Concrete'' - Soft Power Records, MC/DD (2014) *''The Covers Tape'' EP plit w/As Ondas MC/DD (2014) *''Witching Waves/Rattle'' EP - Seeing Double, MC/DD (2015)

Compilation appearances

*"You" on ''Days of Our Youth - an Eclectic Compilation of Delta 5 Covers'' - Bomb The Twist, 2016

References

{{Reflist

External links

Profile
on

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

2014 interview2016 Overblown interview2016 album feature

2016 interview
English indie rock groups British indie pop groups Noise pop musical groups Post-punk revival music groups Underground punk scene in the United Kingdom Specialist Subject Records artists