Wishy remembers the 90s with Nature’s Pill
The nineties are often romanticized as a golden age—a time when alternative rock reigned supreme, fostering a kind of social cohesion alongside the rise of quirky bands. But looking back, we have to admit that nostalgia can be a trap. It’s tempting to wish we could rewind to those seemingly simpler times, especially when compared to the simmering anxieties that defined the era, from the L.A. riots to the Waco disaster.
Musical revolutions frequently start not with history, but with a desperate desire to recreate it. Musicians often find themselves trying to bottle that feeling of being slightly outside the mainstream, attempting to recreate the sounds and aesthetics of the past to cope with a sense of modern dislocation.
One group, the Indianapolis five-piece Wishy dreams, exemplifies this pursuit. Their 2024 debut album, Triple Seven, stands out by cleverly fusing the raw energy of shoegaze with undeniably swoon-worthy pop hooks. This approach demonstrates how modern artists are actively remixing history, rather than simply revisiting it.
Their follow-up project, Nature’s Pill, further highlights this unique blend. The music nods effortlessly to the legendary 120 Minutes canon, weaving in the snotty harmonies of Superchunk (“All the Rage”) and Madchester grooves like “Sensational.” By slipping into the turn of the millennium, they found the missing link between seminal acts like the Strokes and Paramore, perfectly capturing the spirit of the era.
This playful approach isn’t just about sound; it’s about using music as a lens for modern confusion. Frontmen Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites harness distortion-soaked melodies not just for aesthetic pleasure, but as a means to explore the pervasive miscommunication and existential confusion of the contemporary world.
Krauter captured this sentiment perfectly on the track “Mona Lisa,” bemoaning, “my God it’s such a mess now / why can’t we just be honest about it?” It’s a perfect expression of the current mood, delivered with a bashful swagger that feels both classic and utterly current.
Adding to the emotional resonance of their work is Pitchkites’s blissed-out Vaselines mashnote “Lovesick.” This track serves as a timeless ode to romantic second-guessing—the feeling that the right words are always just out of reach—proving that even when facing modern chaos, the core human experience remains delightfully timeless.
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