Album Review: Entertainment by Waterparks

By Yising Kao 4.20.18.

Photo credit: Equal Vision Records

Waterparks’ second album, Entertainment, came out on January 16th, 2018. It’s AMAZING!! Waterparks consists of lead singer Awsten Knight, guitarist Geoff Wigington, and drummer Otto Wood. Their music is so unique and playful, and it automatically puts me in a good mood. The album tells a story from Awsten’s experiences, and opens up with an upbeat track, “11:11,” so listen to the album in order with no distractions! My favorite song from the album is “Not Warriors,” which is one of the singles (I listen to it at least 126 times a day). The verses are produced with Awsten’s low, robotic-sounding voice and heavy undertones, and the chorus is so catchy. The song just puts me in a happy mood, and the lyrics are so clever-“There’s nothing in my system so I’m feeling what I feel for you/ I’m sweating out potential but I’m nervous at my central for you.” Awsten is just a lyrical genius. When I listen to Waterparks’ music, I always wonder how Awsten comes up with such incredible lyrics and metaphors. My second favorite track is “Rare,” which is about admiring someone and wanting them to know that you think they’re rare. It’s an upbeat song that I can’t help but head-bang to and sing along. “Peach (Lobotomy)” is another one of my favorites. It features a cheerful guitar strumming beat and Awsten’s expertise whistling. But the subject of lobotomies contrasts against the happy tone, and it’s such an amazing metaphor to how someone feels about someone they love. I interpret it as a person loving someone and thinking about them so much that they’re losing their mind and it feels like a lobotomy, a feeling that I can relate to. I love the lyric “You're why I'm sitting here, hating myself for needing someone so bad and feeling dumb.” Another track on the album is “We Need to Talk,” which has a chill beat, and it’s about being hurt by someone you used to love. It features the lyrics “I really thought you were my four-leaf clover/I really thought that I was lucky,” expressing the theme and symbol of the four-leaf clover of Entertainment. “Crybaby” is one of the more slower songs with eerie electronic sounds played throughout it; it has a melancholy tone, creating a haunting mood and atmosphere. One lyric is “I thought I told you it’s that gloom boy season,” which refers to their song Gloom Boys from their first album, Double Dare. Awsten is a master at referencing their other songs into albums.

For those who enjoy more hardcore music, there’s “Tantrum,” where Awsten calls out certain people, and it’s such a great song to release all your anger and start a mosh pit. “Blonde” was the first single from the album, and it’s still a bop with its fast-paced and fun beat. “Lucky People” was the second single from Entertainment. It has beautiful guitar strumming and as Awsten describes it, it’s the saddest love song. I recommend you watch the music video filmed by Jawn Rocha, which is beautiful and features Awsten in covered with lights. “Sleep Alone” is another track that will make you dance and my favorite lyric is “my heavy set of cares evaporates all around you.” But the best part is that Awsten coughs before the second chorus. I don’t think any artist has done that before-what a trendsetter! He puts a lot of thought and effort into music production with unique sounds, which makes their music so much more amazing. As a huge fan of them, I may be biased, but there isn’t one song of theirs that I don’t like. And no matter what type of music you listen to, it doesn’t hurt to listen to one of their songs! Now, I can give you a complete run-down for each song, but I’ll leave that up to you to listen to the entire album and interpret the songs in your own way. It’s truly a creative and unique work of art, and I’ll never get tired of listening to it. As Awsten says, Waterparks is God’s favorite boyband, so give them a chance!