I wrote for my October playlist about seeing the Wave Pictures and how they were one of my highlights of the End Of The Road festival. Well, it has been the same this month as they were my favourite gig of October too, catching them on their most recent tour in what seems to be a natural habitat for this three-piece, a pub with a gig room that holds no more than two hundred people. It is that time of year too when I start to compile a shortlist of my records of the year and it is clear their ‘When The Purple Emperor Spreads His Wings’ double album is going to feature in my top titles. They have put out many superb albums over a twenty-year career and this is one of their best yet, it shows no trace of tiredness or auto-pilot traits that befall other bands entering a third decade together.

It is easy to speculate that the reason for this is the Wave Pictures have never really broken through in any major way, beyond being able to sustain their level of playing pub-circuit size venues and counting on a small pocket of loyal followers to show up and buy the records (or unique pottery mugs too on this occasion). They exude a humble effervescence and total lack of bitterness despite the fact that they are one of the greatest examples of how the balance of power in the music, not to mention the divvying out of spoils to those most deserving based on talent, is totally messed up. Long gone are the days when putting out a great song would give you a decent shot at chart appreciation among a top forty selection that honestly reflects the variety in tastes of the nation. Now it seems the only thing that gets you that kind of recognition is marketing; if you choose, as the Wave Pictures do, to let your music do the talking for you, safe in the knowledge that you have both the songs and the performing capacity to back it up, then it would appear you are stuffed.

This is a travesty because essentially what the Wave Pictures do is write spiky, irreverent, dry and observational guitar-pop vignettes on modern life and relationships, very much in the same vein as The Kinks or the Housemartins. Many of the songs on their latest album have killer hooks and insistent riffs worthy of any mainstream with kudos. Just check out the opening track on this month’s playlist and that brilliant sing-along “I don’t trust you anymore” chorus for firm proof of this. There was a moment during the gig I saw this month when their singer Dave Tattersall let a chink of irony at the unjust state of things briefly flicker through the cracks. When announcing an early Wave Pictures number, he jokingly referred to it as narrowly missing becoming a “hit.” He continued, “oh well, at least Ed Sheeran made it through.” That moment alone offered a glimpse into the hidden frustration this band must surely feel occasionally, as well as the parallel universe where all is as it should be, and The Wave Pictures are the household names and Sheeran works the pub circuit. But I guess in this real world we music lovers are the winners, because we get to see one of the UK’s greatest bands in easily accessible venues with affordable ticket prices and brilliant vinyl merchandise to take home and enjoy, pandemics aside, once a year every year.

The Wave Pictures kick off the playlist, which this month takes an early detour into some Beatle Juice before sailing across the usual excursions across the sounds of Psych, Garage, Americana, Folk, Blues, Prog and Jazz… enjoy!