Every month, Consequence puts the spotlight on rising artists with CoSign. For August 2024, we’re excited about the Indiana quintet Wishy and their irresistible debut, Triple Seven.
It’s 2004 and the era of big-budget alternative rock has reached its peak. Rob Cavallo and Butch Walker are producing punchy pop rock records and both Good Charlotte and Sum-41 have filmed videos for their hit songs in empty pools. Michelle Branch is belting skyscraping choruses and the Third Eye Blind snare sound is king. Meanwhile, Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites are kids in the midwest, listening to their siblings’ LimeWire downloads, surrounded by the bombastic sheen of early aughts radio pop, learning how to play guitar.
“Once my older brother got LimeWire, it was Good Charlotte, New Found Glory, Silverstein, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, all of that… the first time I watched those music videos of those bands just rocking out, wearing skate shoes, playing in empty pools, getting into hijinks on tour, I was like, ‘That needs to be me. Whatever happens in my life, I need to achieve that,’” Kratuer recalls over Zoom. “I was totally captivated.”
Fast forward 20 years later: Krauter and Pitchkites now lead a band of their own in their hometown of Indianapolis, a quintet called Wishy. Their excellent debut album, Triple Seven, arrived this month, and it bears a strong resemblance to the ecstatic power pop and dreamy alternative rock that swam around the radio waves during their childhood. Even the album cover features these nostalgic notes — a bright red tomato with a backlit slot machine inside, set against a velvety navy blue fabric, all hearkening back to a time dominated by heavily saturated colors and bold contrasts.
In the beginning, Wishy’s sound was much closer to shoegaze, and upon signing with the indie label Winspear in 2023, they were positioned to be yet another revival act. Their grand entrance last fall was “Donut,” an explosive-but-dreamy track with all the hallmarks of the genre: wavy, washy guitar straight from the Kevin Shields playbook, hushed harmonies between Pitchkites and Krauter, and an undeniable sense of malaise.
But subsequent singles demonstrated an urge to go beyond the introverted crutches of the now-in-demand genre. They wanted their debut album to be louder, bigger, brattier. After all, as much as Krauter and Pitchkites have been influenced by bands like My Bloody Valentine, that’s not exactly the music that left lasting impressions on them in their formative years.