By: Kayleigh Drake

Two years ago, a five-piece band from Indianapolis released an album so perfect it still hasn’t left my regular music rotation. That album was called Triple Seven, and that band was called Wishy. 

I loved Triple Seven so much that I got it on the holy trinity of hard copy formats: CD, cassette and vinyl. (Two of which I scooped at our fabulous local music emporium Seasick Records.) So, when I learned that Wishy was dropping a new album this year, I was pretty ecstatic. 

Enter “Nature’s Pill,” Wishy’s incredibly solid sophomore album that just dropped on Friday, Oct. 2. They released the first single, “Lovesick,” back in June and I have quite literally been counting down the days until the album’s release ever since. (Spoiler: I was NOT disappointed.) 

And to top it all off, the aforementioned Seasick Records has an exclusive vinyl pressing of the album on an absolutely stunning black ice vinyl with white cornetto. In fact, there are only 300 copies of this particular pressing, which is sold only at Seasick and the Indy-based LUNA Music. (You can grab it right here, btw! Or stop by Seasick’s gorgeous Lakeview store location and snag it there while getting some elite music recommendations from their fantastic staff. Your pick!) 

Okay, back to the music. 

For starters, this album is VERY catchy. There’s not a skippable track in the entire 12 songs (which, mind you, is two more than they gave us on Triple Seven). 

While this record takes us in a different direction than their inaugural release, it still maintains all the things I love about the band. Kevin and Nina’s vocals are as strong as ever on this album, and the melodies are just as hook-laden and melodic. But where Triple Seven leaned into dream pop and fuzz-drenched shoegaze, Nature’s Pill leans more jangly power-pop and 90’s indie rock. All excellent sounds, but not really the same thing. 

The album kicks off with “All The Rage,” which was one of the first singles they released from it. It’s an infectious, upbeat little ditty with fast, treble-y guitar strums set to a backdrop of lyrics about getting lost in the oblivion of depression while dealing with a breakup. (Name a more iconic duo, I’ll wait.) It does that thing Rilo Kiley songs do where they trick you into thinking it’s a happy song when in reality it’s quite morbid. And I love that shit. 

Track two, “Covergirl,” is the reason I had to pause writing this review for a couple of days while I listened to it on repeat a million times. This song is SO GOOD, y’all, and I literally could not stop listening to it when I first heard it (starting off strong, people). And I know I said earlier that this album isn’t really that shoegazey, but I’ll walk back that claim for this particular song, which I’d say it’s the only straight-up shoegaze track on the album. It starts with a chill, midtempo verse that launches into a dreamy, wall-of-sound chorus with Nina and Kevin’s vox swirling together like the Vanilla Sweet Cream and Brownie Batter soft-serve at New Shoes (iykyk). It’s a 1-2-3-repeater for DAMN sure. 

“Sensational,” another one of the singles, starts with this cunty little talk-sing moment in the first verse in which Nina says both the name of the song AND the name of the album. Like a mild title-track situation (even though that’s not really what that means lol). I’m unsure of the why, but the aforementioned talk-sing part kind of reminds me of Britney’s “you’re gonna turn this shit up” part in “Scream & Shout” (again, iykyfk). Anyway, that then leads into a singalong-worthy chorus that’ll easily get stuck in your head. 

I’ll take this moment to say that another thing I really like about this album is the fun little details that are peppered in throughout the songs. “Shift,” for example, concludes with an adorably sweet answering machine message from Nina’s grandma who is congratulating her on something (perhaps the release of this fabulous record?). “You’re Not Serious” features one of my all-time favorite musical elements: a well-placed key-change between the verse and the chorus. “Mona Lisa” interpolates “Femme Fatale” by the Velvet Underground at one point, and “Headscratcher” interpolates the “when I wake up, before I put on my makeup” part from Dionne Warwick’s “I Say a Little Prayer.” Just cool little Easter Eggs interspersed at various parts that make this record all the more fun to listen to. 

All in all, Nature’s Pill is an extremely solid album that, by this point, I can confidently say has earned a spot on my AOTY list. Does it top Triple Seven in my mind? I dunno, did it grip me with the force of a thousand suns and cause me to buy it on three formats within the span of a week and feverishly play them over and over for an entire summer? I wouldn’t say that. But then again, that’s a tall order. It’s like expecting every My Bloody Valentine album to be “Loveless,” or every Strokes album to be “Is This It.”

And it’s not really an apples to apples comparison anyway. Number one, it’s fall. And number two, we’re dealing with two different musical approaches here. Where Triple Seven shines with loud, soaring shoegazey riffage, Nature’s Pill shines with its jangly guitars and slacker-pop sensibilities. Both very good, both very Wishy. And they both have a HELL of a lot of catchy melodic goodness within them, which is the number one thing I expect (and receive) with every Wishy offering. 

Y’all can stream Nature’s Pill on Bandcamp right here, and you can grab a copy of it on that gorgeous black-and-white vinyl from Seasick right here! Either way, you’re in for a treat.