Well Wisher should probably be on your radar if you've been following the recent wave of pop-genius underground and low-end favoring punk that's been percolating over the past decade. The New Jersey band is kind of a less moody version of Bleached with an easy blend of '90s alt-rock and '00s emo, staging a vibrating layer-cake of Paramore dusted with Pixies and Jimmy Eat World seasoned with Veruca Salt. You can't really reduce them to preoccupations of previous decades though, as their sound is very current, throwing off bright, care-free and glancing sparks as they round the edges of Hop Along's eclectic twirl while providing a cooling countercurrent and covalent blush to Illuminati Hottie's sardonic pop ultimatum. Their debut That Weight is quite light and pleasant to the ears, but with enough body in the mix to push back against any wondering of your attention. "Miserable" has a beguilingly hooky build-and-bust structure with the right amount of pop-punk punch. "29" has a wonderful, agreeable temperature to its mix, rinsed in golden-hour light that touches up the pained practice smile that the lyrics display, a sensitivity further betrayed by the distant, lonely, coyote-like howl of the guitars. And then there is "Need You Around" which sounds like Peach Keli Pop swiftly maneuvering around emotional obstacles like a professional rollerblader, losing the fears that hound her through her day in an athletic display of flexibility and masterfully executed avoidance. Let some of the burdens you have been carrying slide off your back for the next thirty minutes and put That Weight in your ears instead.
