Written By Cheryl Lee
LA based alternative indie pop band Inner Wave exploded onto the stage at White Oak Music Hall with “Child”, the third song off their fifth studio album SEE YOU WHEN I GET BACK. Their newest work doesn’t stop at music—lead singer Pablo Sotelo stated that SYWIGB is “more of an interconnected project”, including a book and film documenting the process of album recording and previous tour adventures. Off the bat, their stage presence and addictive guitar riffs entranced me and my fellow ktruvian and station manager, Chloe Diehl. Their music feels like The Strokes meeting Tame Impala halfway with a touch of Magdalena Bay. I was pleasantly surprised at how full and multi dimensional their music sounded in person. In the studio recordings, some of the songs on SYWIGB can feel a bit flat, which was slightly discouraging leading up to the actual concert. But experiencing their music live allowed me to appreciate each element of their music individually, from the bass to the synths to the semi monotonous lull of Sotelo’s voice.
Opening for Inner Wave was Twin Seas, an east LA based indie pop band that complemented Inner Wave’s sound very well, playing with a variety of synths and guitar riffs that supplemented the rich voice of the lead singer, Eduardo Bueno. There was a last minute swap in the tour, as Los Mesoneros were the original openers. I enjoyed the beachy, summery, and laid back feeling that Twin Seas brought to the stage, particularly by “Surf Wave”—a 2016 single that highlights the ephemeral nature of life in youth. Twin Seas’ short but cohesive set warmed us up well for the psychedelic indie rock performed by Inner Wave.
Having received a photo pass, I had the pleasure of experiencing “ONE IN A MILLION” from the photo pit, which had a hypnotic and funky energy about it that doesn’t necessarily feel present in the studio version. It was followed by “Rose”, a 2019 single that brought a dynamic intensity to the downstairs stage at White Oak. Having to go back to the crowd after the first three songs was frankly pretty sad after being able to shoot the members of Inner Wave up close in action, but experiencing the show from the crowd was lovely in itself. I really appreciated how the Inner Wave crowd was calm and swaying gently to the music, as it made the venue easier to navigate when I was shooting. However, I kind of wished the crowd brought more energy, especially during more vibrant moments in the set, such as “IF YOU LIKE”, which reflects the 1970s low-budget horror and grindhouse cinema theme in their film. I appreciated the crowd engagement that Sotelo displayed—reflecting on the band’s previous trips to Houston and how the venue, White Oak Music Hall, holds a sweet place in their heart after they performed on the same exact stage in February 2022 for the Apoptosis tour. In between songs, several people shouted out “Take your shirt off!”, to Sotelo, who was rocking a cropped camo print tee. To these cries he teasingly replied, “Would you want us to get fully naked? I think that’s a crime, no?”
While the focus of the set was songs from SYWIGB, it was interspersed with some throwback songs like “Oof”, originating from their EP wya. For some other artists, changing between different musical eras can feel very jarring, but Inner Wave did this well without compromising their sound and the uniqueness of it between different pieces of work. After a stellar performance of “Estrella”, the band went behind the curtain, prompting the crowd to scream “One more song!” They reentered the stage once again for “Take 3”, an entrancing and hauntingly beautiful single from 2021. They closed out their set with their most famous song (and the one that I suspect many fans were there to hear), “American Spirits”. A concertgoer next to me cried out right before the encore: “PLAY AMERICAN SPIRITS!! I GOT WORK TOMORROW!”
While the sound and vision of Inner Wave has evolved considerably over the years since III came out, I still think that their music and work is still cohesive as a whole and occupies a unique niche within indie pop/rock. I hope to see them continue progressing artistically and can’t wait to see them perform at WOMH again!
Set List (from artist):
SEE YOU WHEN I GET BACK Intro
CHILD
ONE IN A MILLION
ROSE
PUSH
PULL
MADRE
BIG FOOT
SCHEMIN
IF YOU LIKE
SAME IS THE CHANGE
pay phone score
ALL OF THE THINGS
OOF
142
Estrella2
Encore:
Take 3
American Spirits