Nick Waterhouse: “Is That Clear”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/01-nick_waterhouse-is_that_clear.mp3|titles=Nick Waterhouse: “Is That Clear”]Despite what your ears and eyes are telling you, the seven-inch single Is That Clear, from San Francisco-based rock-‘n’-roll artist Nick Waterhouse, is brand new. Fully committed to the horn-rimmed and fuzzed-out retro aesthetic, Waterhouse is a mere 25 years old, and somehow not the long-lost progeny of Buddy Holly.
Though it’s tempting to lump him into the recent crop of soul revival led by artists like Mayer Hawthorne and Jamie Lidell, Waterhouse isn’t interested in coating a vintage sound with the modern sheen of synths and vocoders. Recorded in analog and sporting hand-letter-pressed labels, his self-produced debut, Some Place, was released on his own label (Pres) with a backing band known as The Turn-Keys.
Now, as he readies a full-length for Innovative Leisure, Waterhouse drops Is This Clear, a horn-heavy two-track throwback that clocks in at just five minutes. Throw it on the record player and dust off that rusty Mashed Potato of yours.