KATRINA AND THE WAVES
The Original Recordings 1983-84 (Bongo Beat)
Reviewed by Alan Wright

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If you don't know the story of the Waves, here's a little background: after the breakup of the Soft Boys, Kimberly Rew put a new version of his pre-Soft Boys outfit the Waves together. Initially the lead vocals were shared between himself and second guitarist Katrina Leskanich, as on their debut 8-song mini-LP called Shock Horror, but as she became more the group's focal point, she took over the vocals on most numbers and the band's moniker was changed to reflect this. On the strength of their debut release, they were signed to Attic records in Canada by Ralph Alfonso and put out two LPs before being signed to Capitol Records in the U.S. Capitol had them re-record 12 songs from the first two Attic LPs for their debut, including a new horn-filled version of "Walking On Sunshine" which became their first big stateside hit. That said, this collection features all the original Attic versions, much of which were themselves re-recordings of the now rare first mini-LP. Thus, you get great '60s Soul-meets-'70s Powerpop tunes like "Dancing Street," "Going Down To Liverpool" (covered and made a hit by the Bangles), "Brown Eyed Son" and the original horn-less "Walking On Sunshine." There's jangly, neo-psychedelic guitar work all over the place and a constant rocking backbeat, all topped off with Katrina's fab vocals. Rew chimes in with the one tune where he still sang lead, the excellent "Don't Take Her Out Of My World." CD one includes both Attic LPs, plus three previously unreleased songs including covers of Ike & Tina's "River Deep, Mountain High" and Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat," and a live version of "Walking On Sunshine." CD 2 is a DVD of an entire live set filmed in 1983 at Shepperton Film Studios.

© 2004 - Alan Wright