Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Walter TV channels ABBA

But the haunted-house version of the ’70s Swedish pop quartet

Walter TV won't require a divorce or two to become interesting.
Walter TV won't require a divorce or two to become interesting.

I’m going out on a limb to say this, but I hear echoes of ABBA here and there in Walter TV. Which is not meant as a bad thing. In fact, it’s the haunted-house version of the singing ’70s Swedish pop quartet, a group that sold so many millions of records that most sources are reluctant to list an actual number and instead post estimates — as many as 500 million, which would make ABBA among the best-selling pop acts of all time. Therefore, not an entirely bad band to borrow from, and not an entirely original idea.

Past Event

Walter TV

  • Tuesday, October 10, 2017, 8 p.m.
  • Blonde Bar, 1808 West Washington Street, San Diego
  • 21+

MGMT borrowed from the ABBA blueprint to pop music. But I don’t think it was necessarily intentional in the case of Walter TV, a lo-fi jangle-pop act out of Canada.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Walter TV’s released three studio albums in the band’s lifetime, which so far is only a few years. At present, they are road-dogging around the country in support of their 2017 release Carpe Diem.

To my ear, ABBA didn’t get interesting until the two couples divorced and the songwriting got dark. Which is where Walter TV started, in kind of an eccentric place. Each of them are in their 30s. They are: drummer Joe McMurray, Pierce McGarry on guitar/vocals, and bassist Simon Ankenman, a canoe tour guide in the Northwest when Walter TV is quiet.

Video:

Walter TV, "Surf Metal"

But an ABBA ripoff they are not, and besides, a steady diet of one thing breeds ennui. Walter TV folds in a bunch of ideas that don’t connect on paper but that work just fine when they perform, like surf metal, psych, noise rock, and indie rock, and the stage show itself is at times agitated and funny. Walter TV will never rank in importance, other than to be one of those bands you’ll have zero regrets about having paid a cover charge to see.

Bruin and Mt. Pleasant also perform.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Southern California Asks: 'What Is Vinivia?' Meet the New Creator-First Livestreaming App

Walter TV won't require a divorce or two to become interesting.
Walter TV won't require a divorce or two to become interesting.

I’m going out on a limb to say this, but I hear echoes of ABBA here and there in Walter TV. Which is not meant as a bad thing. In fact, it’s the haunted-house version of the singing ’70s Swedish pop quartet, a group that sold so many millions of records that most sources are reluctant to list an actual number and instead post estimates — as many as 500 million, which would make ABBA among the best-selling pop acts of all time. Therefore, not an entirely bad band to borrow from, and not an entirely original idea.

Past Event

Walter TV

  • Tuesday, October 10, 2017, 8 p.m.
  • Blonde Bar, 1808 West Washington Street, San Diego
  • 21+

MGMT borrowed from the ABBA blueprint to pop music. But I don’t think it was necessarily intentional in the case of Walter TV, a lo-fi jangle-pop act out of Canada.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Walter TV’s released three studio albums in the band’s lifetime, which so far is only a few years. At present, they are road-dogging around the country in support of their 2017 release Carpe Diem.

To my ear, ABBA didn’t get interesting until the two couples divorced and the songwriting got dark. Which is where Walter TV started, in kind of an eccentric place. Each of them are in their 30s. They are: drummer Joe McMurray, Pierce McGarry on guitar/vocals, and bassist Simon Ankenman, a canoe tour guide in the Northwest when Walter TV is quiet.

Video:

Walter TV, "Surf Metal"

But an ABBA ripoff they are not, and besides, a steady diet of one thing breeds ennui. Walter TV folds in a bunch of ideas that don’t connect on paper but that work just fine when they perform, like surf metal, psych, noise rock, and indie rock, and the stage show itself is at times agitated and funny. Walter TV will never rank in importance, other than to be one of those bands you’ll have zero regrets about having paid a cover charge to see.

Bruin and Mt. Pleasant also perform.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

NORTH COUNTY’S BEST PERSONAL TRAINER: NICOLE HANSULT HELPING YOU FEEL STRONG, CONFIDENT, AND VIBRANT AT ANY AGE

Next Article

Tigers In Cairo owes its existence to Craigslist

But it owes its name to a Cure tune and a tattoo
Comments
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Dec. 9, 2018
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Dec. 9, 2018
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Jan. 12, 2019
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
Jan. 23, 2019
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
March 13, 2019
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
March 29, 2019
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
April 20, 2019
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
July 25, 2019
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader