“A glorious and bright new future for the genre.”- The Big Take Over
Olympia’s Waves Crashing channels the iconic sounds of the ’80s and ’90s into something fresh and electrifying; pairing lush, atmospheric soundscapes with melodic hooks. Since their first EP in 2021, they’ve become a fixture of the Pacific Northwest alternative scene through a steady stream of releases and regional touring.
They’ve shared the stage with Bully, Wavves, Ringo Deathstarr, Cloakroom, Sun Atoms, The Veldt, Cigarettes For Breakfast, MOAA, and Flyingfish, and appeared at key regional events including West Seattle Summer Fest, South Sound Block Party, LoveOly Summer Fest, Dreamgaze PDX, Tremolo Fest, Seagaze, Band in Seattle, Magnuson Park Live, Fisherman’s Village, Kalamashoegazer, and Festival of Dark Arts.
Their 2023 EP The Viewing reached #20 on KEXP’s Best of 2023 list, while the follow-up Ancora spent six weeks on the NACC Top 200, peaking at #41. In 2025, their debut full-length Effection hit #92 on NACC and #88 on KEXP’s Best of 2025,fueling a 16-city U.S. tour and a dreamy reimagining of Radiohead’s “Creep” as a standalone single.
Recently, the band was nominated as a finalist for the Doc Swinson’s Opening Act Contest for the NW Tuneup Festival. The band is now preparing to release their 2nd studio album Spring 2026.
Effection album review: https://post-punk.com/drifting-through-the-tides-olympias-waves-crashing-delivers-cascading-shoegaze-lp-effection/
SUPPORT: HEALEES
Healees was formed in Paris by American expat Bryan Quinn and Breton transplant Renaud Chaure in 2016. Together with swedish born Hillevi Robertsson on bass and Hugo Rd on drums, the 4-piece blend shoegaze, new wave, noise and power pop into a style as mesmerizing as it is catchy. A set of demos in 2020 led to a self-titled maxi-EP on Toulouse’s Hidden Bay Records in 2022, with a full-length LP released in october 2024 by Hidden Bay Records, Safe Suburban Home Records and Indie or Die Records.
Healees has been described as ‘21st-century shoegazers amazingly as great as 1988-1995’s originals” (the Big Takeover), ‘the best shoegaze band in France’ (Paris Popfest), and ‘one of the most interesting bands on the European scene in recent years‘ (JustAnotherPopSong)!
