Jackson Phillips is the dude behind Day Wave, and his first two EPs have been pressed on limited-edition white vinyl. Phillips’s breezy indie pop sound came to light on his 2015 debut Headcase, which garnered a lot of buzz and thrusted the artist into the festival circuit. He followed up with Hard to Read, a 2016 5-tracker which Phillips himself wrote, recorded (direct to tape), mixed, and mastered. Warm, breezy, and vibrant, Phillips’s songs have a soothing quality to them, and his reverbed vocals sit well with shimmery synths, guitars, and upbeat drums. Highlights: “Gone,” “Stuck,” “Deadbeat Girl,” “Drag,” “We Try but We Don’t Fit In,” and “Total Zombie.”

• release combining 2 previous EPs
• music label: Grand Jury 2016

reviewed by nakaveli 08/2017