Nick DiPillo, these Brooklyn shoegazers are pared down to their core duo of
Ian Carpenter (vocals/guitars) and
Rachel Fischer (drums) for this debut full-length.
Wilds’ four pre-LP singles demonstrate the group’s range: faster numbers like the bright, glistening “Anterograde” and coarser, punk-edged “Glower” blend Wild Nothing and DIIV with Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Black Tambourine, while the more leisurely “Billows” and “Depth Charge” combine the floating, ethereal waft of Slowdive, Breathless and Lanterna with the majestic, speakers-shredding blast of Catherine Wheel, Sleepover Disaster, and Half String. The other eight continue in that vein, with Carpenter’s pensive, breathy voice evoking Ian McCulloch on Echo-esque beauties “High Dive” and “Sweet, Cheera.” Behind Carpenter’s ascending, stratospheric guitars and Fischer’s potent, dynamic stickwork,