Album Review: Waves by Worst Advice

Worst Advice are a four piece from Nuremberg, Germany, who first came to my attention after they were booked to play Hamburg Booze Cruise in 2020. Sadly that festival didn’t get to happen but at least I found a cool band out of it. I really enjoyed their debut EP, Faces, and even got them to appear on a CPRW Records comp last year. On the 11th of January this year, the band released their second EP Waves. Three brand new tracks mastered by Mass Giorgini no less. This was going to sound amazing.

The opening track is named It Feels. Here we have a raspy vocalled pop punk song with a wonderfully uplifting melody running through its core. If this is your first exposure to Worst Advice then this feels like a perfect way to welcome you in. It’s got that punk feel to it but it’s also really accessible thanks to some great hooks. I really enjoyed how the track wastes absolutely no time in getting started. There isn’t really an intro, it just starts and you’re into the song. This allows Waves to get off to a very urgent start. In contrast, the second song Brixton does have an intro that gives the song plenty of energy to begin with. The hectic guitar riff builds up to the opening vocals. They start in a way that I imagine will get many fists in the air. The song is about trying to find your way back to yourself and doing your best not to give up. The listener should definitely find a feeling of catharsis listening to the track. The track remains high in energy throughout the majority of its duration but does have a melody change to ensure things are ended in a big way. The third and final song is titled Escape Plan. On my first couple of listens through of the song, the thing that struck me most was the excellent backing harmonies that appear throughout the song. I’m a big fan of backing harmonies, they add such a great extra layer to a song and allow the listener to latch on to something without having to learn all the words. The song doesn’t really have the same urgency or energy of the other two tracks on Waves but does feel like it takes you on more of a journey. Of the three songs on Waves, Escape Plans feels like the perfect one to make a music video for. A fun way to finish the EP.

Waves is an excellent follow up release for Worst Advice. It sees them growing and improving as a band. Fingers crossed that they will be back on the Booze Cruise line-up this year so I can finally see them play live.

Stream and download Waves on Bandcamp here.

Like Worst Advice on Facbook here.

This review was written by Colin Clark.