Every new Wave Pictures release makes you wonder why these guys aren’t multi-million-selling national treasures. They’ve always been highly thought of by critics and have attracted the attention of some big-name fans and collaborators. Songwriting oracle Nick Lowe and Marc Riley have been their part-time hype men, and they have worked with The Mountain Goats, Billy Childish, Herman Dune and Darren Hayman. But if The Wave Pictures were ever going to be huge, it would have happened by now. The London-based trio of David Tattersall (guitar and vocals), Franic Rozycki (bass) and Jonny Helm (drums) have been pumping out insanely consistent albums for well over twenty years. Perhaps they’re too clever, too varied, too DIY for the mainstream. Perhaps they have no interest in playing the game. Either way, with every new release, it feels like you’re discovering your new favourite band for the first time.
Gained/Lost is no exception, and it’s amongst their most accessible and rewarding work. All the old Wave Pictures touchstones are there, fashioned as usual into new and interesting shapes. There’s The House Painted Blue, a two-minute blast of rapid-fire pop fortified by blistering surf-rock guitar, garage dynamics and arty angles. It’s like Talking Heads and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah filtered through the Sonics, and that’s before you come to David Tattersall’s playing. He is something of a musician’s musician, and his guitar sound is immediately distinctive, incorporating elements of desert rock and spiky proto-punk into an already rich musical stew.
And then there’s the opening song, Alice, where a rhythmic crunch and a classic rock guitar introduce a lyrical journey that sounds like a holiday postcard from Tom Petty and each and every one of the Heartbreakers. Later in the song is a solo in which Tattersall sounds like both guitarists from Television at once. On Sure and Steady, he takes us back to his small-town upbringing in Leicestershire. His eye for detail and the self-deprecating bite of his lyrics elevate it above your standard piece of childhood nostalgia.
Tattersall has never been afraid to go down weird lyrical and musical rabbit holes. You’re My Patient Now takes us into darker terrain than we are used to, while a simple, bluesy, garage-rock riff. It feels wonderfully sleazy: a reminder of what the electric guitar was invented for. By contrast, the tender Sparklers reminds us that the trio can cook up emotional slow-burners full of bright imagery and weeping, country-style guitars. Similarly, the almost folky Faded Wave Pictures T-Shirt is a delicate piece of personal myth-making that tracks the growth of desire through the aligned prisms of memory and music. And themes of memory and the distant past are prevalent on The Past Comes Back to Haunt Me, where Tattersall experiences a Proustian throb of reminiscence over a pounding, minimal rhythm.
The big, brash title track is built around a simple vocal refrain and a series of guitar bursts that again recall Tom Verlaine. Helm and Rozycki combine powerfully here, carrying the song forward at a brisk chug. Samuel, all taut energy, begins with a wiry guitar solo and progresses through quick-fire verses punctuated by unexpected flutters of anxious violin. Often a Wave Pictures song will sound like a high-wire act, and here the effect is particularly tense. Tension is formed in a different way in the creeping, ultimately cathartic Orange Fire, which bows out with a blazing guitar solo. The album closes with Worry Anymore, one of its most pretty, melodic songs. It’s also one of its most affirming: Tattersall seems to have found some kind of romantic contentment; he can sit with a beer and knock off a beautiful passage of Spanish-style acoustic guitar, then end the song with a wordless refrain. Who knows whether this contentment extends to Tattersall’s relationship with music, or whether he will continue on his restless path? It’s best just to enjoy The Wave Pictures while we can. There’s no one else quite like them, and Gained/Lost is another bright star in their constellation.
Gained/Lost (February 27th, 2026) Bella Union
Pre-Order: https://bfan.link/gained-lost
The Wave Pictures UK + EU Tour:
25th February – Leeds @ Brudenell Social Club – TICKETS
26th February – Newcastle @ Cluny 2 – TICKETS
27th February – Glasgow @ Stereo – TICKETS
28th February – Nottingham @ Old Cold Store – TICKETS
1st March – Oxford @ Jericho Tavern – TICKETS
3rd March – Bristol @ Strange Brew – TICKETS
4th March – Cardiff @ Clwb Ifor Bach – TICKETS
5th March – Manchester @ YES – TICKETS
6th March – Brighton @ DUST – TICKETS
12th March – Valladolid @ Desierto Rojo – TICKETS
13th March – Palma de Mallorca @ Sala Zero – TICKETS
14th March – Zaragoza @ La Lata De Bombillas – TICKETS
15th March – Valencia @ 16 Toneladas – TICKETS
16th March – Madrid @ Sala Villanos – TICKETS
17th March – Barcelona @ Razzmatazz 3 – TICKETS
18th March – Bilbao @ Cafe Antzokia – TICKETS
19th March – Santander @ Escenario Santander – TICKETS
20th March – Logrono @ Stereo Rock & Roll Bar – TICKETS
21st March – San Sebastian @ Dabadaba – TICKETS
10th April – Rotterdam @ Rotown – TICKETS
11th April – Bremen @ Schule 21 – TICKETS
12th April – Berlin @ Neue Zukunft – TICKETS
13th April – Dresden @ Ostpol – TICKETS
14th April – Frankfurt @ Zoom – TICKETS
15th April – Munich @ Substanz – TICKETS
17th April – Passau @ Cafe Museum
18th April – Schorndorf @ Club Manufaktur – TICKETS
19th April – Barenbach @ Shorty’s – TICKETS ON THE DOOR ONLY
20th April – Cologne @ 674FM Konzertraum