Wishy – Nature’s Pill

Triple Seven, Wishy’s patchy 2024 debut, was so saturated with ’90s nostalgia that it almost obscured its myriad flaws. In pithier terms, the sound was delicious, the substance lacking. But the Indianapolis five-piece should be congratulated for their resilience, because they have dusted themselves off and returned with a much stronger follow-up in Nature’s Pill. It still reeks of the ’90s—mainly the better parts—and for critics of a certain vintage, that’s never going to be a problem, unless of course the songwriting is lacking.

Fortunately, the strength of writing is the biggest improvement on Nature’s Pill. Wishy always sounded impressive, but in the outrageously fun “Lovesick” and the swaggering “Sensational” they finally have statement songs to match. Picking out reference points isn’t particularly challenging. The hazy guitars and surprisingly dancey beats of “Covergirl” evoke Curve, while the more jagged “Sensational” reminds me of Elastica. The influence of a third London band—4AD shoegazers Lush—looms large throughout. Wishy also resemble The Primitives (of “Crash” fame) at their most hook-driven, while there’s even a faint whiff of emo on tracks like “All The Rage” and “Freak 99.”

Not everything on Nature’s Pill is a roaring success, though. “Headscratcher” neatly interpolates “Say a Little Prayer,” but it’s a smart trick wasted on a forgettable tune. As a pure moment, the “Femme Fatale” (“Here she comes/You’d better catch your breath”) interpolation on “Mona Lisa” is much more effective, but its parent track is equally frustrating. Elsewhere, the tired Auto-Tuned vocals of “Kiss Kiss Kiss” fall flat, making the final stretch of Nature’s Pill harder going than it needs to be.

Ultimately, Wishy are swinging for the fences on Nature’s Pill, and while they don’t always connect, I’ll take spirited failure over conservatism any day.

Nature’s Pill is out now via Winspear.