The always hard-working Big Western Flavor has delivered our first album review for What is Nerdwave?:

The tunes on What Is Nerdwave? tell stories. The band uses its knack for good, sticky chorus hooks and supports it by writing lyrics that increase the expectation and hence the payoffs for the choruses.

They also make their 80's-rock inspirations their own by injecting the Racketeers' personal obsessions and quirks, from the technosexual weirdness of "Electromagnetic Pulse" to the fanfic romance "Summer" (as in Summer Glau).

The smart construction of the songwriting enhances the modest pleasures of their playing. A few songs really pop out: "I'm Not Dead" is fast, goofy fun and "Looking for Lorelei" is expertly conceived power pop.

Thanks, Westy!