Every few years, a band comes along who go right up to the fountain drink dispenser at the pop music gas station and make a suicide out of every soda available. Houston's
Waterparks
are just that sort of every-flavor-in-one kind of band on their fourth album, 2021's likeably indulgent
Greatest Hits
. While the title is an example of the group's cheeky sense of humor, it speaks to their confidence in crafting infectious songs that sound like the unexpected offspring of
Blur
's "Song 2" and
Owl City
's "Fireflies." Lead singer
Awsten Knight
sings with the kind of nasally resonant
Ben Gibbard
croon that emo bands have favored since the early 2000s, and one that he's just as likely to filter through Auto-Tune. Working with producer
Zakk Cervini
,
Knight
(along with his bandmates, guitarist
Geoff Wigington
and drummer
Otto Wood
), frames himself in an ear-popping kaleidoscope of sounds, from ersatz grunge guitars and shimmering synths to frenetic electronic- and hip-hop-influenced beats. He does so with a candid sense of humor, often digging into his fears about being accepted and liked. On "You'd Be Paranoid Too (If Everyone Was Out to Get You)" he sings, "People treat me like I'm an asshole/But I don't text when I drive, though/I can't say that they're all wrong, no/'Cause I steal your straws on the down-low (I'm sorry)." He also got some Fruit by the Foot to share with you while watching a scary movie on the hard-luck slow jam "Fruit Roll Ups." All of this would merely be bubblegum pop fun if not for the band's knack for writing the kind of Hypercolor, stadium-sized singalong anthems that make up much of
. ~ Matt Collar