Nick Waterhouse
Never Twice

Remember Nick Waterhouse, that somewhat nerdy guy who wishes he had black skin and dresses as if he lives in the first half of the last century, singing and playing old rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, boogaloo? Very well, that guy is back with a new album, titled 'Never Twice' (Innovative Leisure), released last September 30 and produced by Nick himself and Michael McHugh (Black Lips, Ty Segall, Allah-Las).

With a particularly composite (and substantial) band and consequently with particularly precise arrangements, Nick Waterhouse has created another album that will surely be very appreciated by critics and the public for its elegance and its being easy-listening and at the same time 'catchy' because in a way this 'revivalism' can definitely be considered as something recurring in the imagination of the new generation that looks with a certain fascination at that specific historical phase. I don't know. I would say that Nick Waterhouse is like burlesque, like those themed parties that certain venues organize where everyone dresses as if they were gangsters. Probably ten years ago someone like him would simply have been called a 'loser,' something like that. Today, generally, the definition 'hipster' has been adopted, which actually has much older cultural roots, but let's not digress... In this regard, though, the director Noah Baumbach (the one from 'Greenberg' and 'Frances Ha') made a good film. The film is 'While We're Young' (2014), centered both on this kind of youth cultural movement aimed at revivalism and on what are practically the vicissitudes of a New York documentary filmmaker and his wife, who start hanging out with a couple in their twenties (and twenty years younger). More than a contrast between the two generations where apparently the couple in their twenties (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried) seem incredibly more savvy than the older Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, rejecting technology and reevaluating everything that is considered instead old and obsolete, surpassed, the film actually focuses perhaps more on the difficulties of the protagonist couple to accept the fact of being forty and at the same time also what is their own history and cultural identity for what it is and for what it has been without denying it and regretting the differences with the following generation. Nevertheless, or maybe because of this, I believe the film more or less gives the idea of what I mean.

Moreover, it should not surprise, for example, that Nick Waterhouse, besides singing and writing his own songs, is also a producer. He has worked for years with what are his great friends, the 'Allah-Las', and since their debut and already from the last decade with musicians like Ty Segall, Mikal Cronin, The Growlers, Cold War Kids. This means that, apart from his obsession and his clearly being inspired by making music that is distant in time, Nick Waterhouse (thirty years old last February) is still a boy of his time and as such perfectly inserted into the cultural context of the place where he lives, the city of Los Angeles, California. This is clearly an aspect to pay attention to. I mean, what does a figure like Nick Waterhouse represent as an artist in contemporary culture and society?

Personally, I do not appreciate revivals. I think that in our society, that in the society of our time, there are positive and negative contents, of course, but in any case, I have no nostalgia for the past. Perhaps for a past time I never experienced. Besides, the past is something that is gone forever and at most can be considered a kind of cultural heritage, a naturally acquired patrimony, which can also be a source of inspiration and reflection, but never something to be repeated as if one wanted to tread a path already traced and repeat the same old patterns all the time. On the other hand, I do not know (but I do not think) that revivalism can be regarded as a form of opposition to current social structures, and frankly, I do not even think this is in Nick's intentions and this record: he is simply fascinated by those sounds and by that period which he obviously could not live in person. But this ultimately makes me think more of a contrast with the generation before his rather than a kind of act of rebellion against our society.

Aside from all these considerations and finally getting into the concrete contents of the album, it is undeniable that Nick Waterhouse is a good musician and songwriter and proves it once again with a meticulous work like 'Never Twice'. Of course, don't expect anything innovative, that would be obvious, but just appreciate what is good music and easy listening, although a great friend of mine might also define it ironically and with a little malice as 'lounge bar music'. From the upbeat soul of 'It's Time', the opening track, where the organ sets the pace, to the boogaloo soul of 'I Had Some Money (But I Spent It)' and 'Tracy', to the groove of 'Straight Love Affair' with a special use of the backing vocals that harken back to even older gospel traditions. The piano ballad 'Lucky Once', the suburban jazz of 'La Turnaround', and up to the rhythm and blues ballads like 'The Old Place' and the long calypso 'Stanyan Street' dominated by the use of saxophone. In practice, Nick explores again all the world of 1950s rhythm and blues and club jazz sounds, and those of the soul and boogaloo tradition of the 1960s. Some claim to consider this a mix with a certain contemporary sensitivity that would give this album some special content and meaning in the social and cultural context of our historical moment, but I have to admit that, even considering this album as his best work so far and where there is also a greater variety in sound compared to previous ones, even this time I don't feel any of this in Nick Waterhouse's new work. It's a revival album that is well-played and easy to listen to. That's all. Expecting more would be wrong and misleading.

The great question this time, on the contrary, is another. 'Time's All Gone' and 'Holly' were immediately appreciated and gave Nick Waterhouse immediate fame and recognition within the 'indie' subculture. What will happen with this new album? I mean, will 'Never Twice' be kind of a springboard that will make him known and listened to by an even wider audience? A broader audience. Maybe not solely composed of World War II veterans.