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[COOL DOWN] Heat waves suck, especially when youâre one of the many Portlanders without air conditioning. But thereâs also something nostalgic, even romantic, that happens when the temperatures climb into triple digits. Wild Onesâ Heatwave EP evokes similar feelings through infectious love songs about night driving and holding onto youth while nearing its end. The title track might be the only one of the five songs on this release that was actually written during a stretch of sun-scorched hell, but itâs enough to place the other four songs in the context of the "fever-dreaming nights" Danielle Sullivan sings about in the opener. Heatwave is far more polished and idiosyncratic than Wild Ones' 2013 full-length, Keep It Safe, the looped beats cutting deeper, the guitar ceding even more ground to the synths, and some version of "ooh-ooh" on virtually every chorus. Wild Ones aren't the kind of group to test the boundaries of synth-pop or anything, but its songs reliably hit all the right spots, and Heatwave is no exception. Plus, Sullivan's crystalline voice is cooler than any A/C. SHANNON GORMLEY.
SEE IT: Wild Ones play Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., with Pearles, on Friday, Aug. 14. 9 pm. $12 advance, $14 day of show. 21+.
Willamette Week
