Watashi Wa returns with best album… “People Like People.” And I certainly like these people.
Apparently Watashi Wa is more than the “All Of Me” pop punk praise that had a rash of explosion in the early aughts, and the late nineties. Their 16 year-long awaited return in album “People Like People” has proven that “Everything” is not finished with the band, and in fact their best years may be ahead of them.
This is not simply shown in the musical nuance that they are newly uncovering, but in the themes that prove to be far more than the light fluffy pop punk that had the inability to dig down deep. Looking deep at “Trust me”, “Like You Mean It”, and “Some Time” you’d think that experiencing more of life has actually made them LESS jaded and cynical, not that they ever were that hardened. And, I think this is true, even if you disagree with their social commentary songs like “xCovid19x” or “Land of the Free”, which in my eyes comes from deep inner pain, almost like mourning a life-long love lost. It’s is the same pain many in America now feel. “Zombie” encapsulates this well, as a sympathetic love-cry to those who have been lost, but also a proclamation that all is not forsaken and we can actually make a difference, no matter if we have momentarily gone insane.
Our playlist of the album is on Youtube.
It can all be fixed, if we give everything of ourselves to God again. Not just as an individual, but as a nation. The question of rebuilding from a broken place is answered well in “How Will We Live?” calling to mind Francis Shaeffer’s “How Will We Then Now Live?”, a reminder that, for a believing artist, we can pave a new path that is founded in the God-given principles that he is constantly washing us with through the daily washing of the Word. “Some Time” returns into the mind, then, as the best song of the album, in my mind, in tandem with “Crazy for You”. We may feel completely broken, even insane, but if we give it some time in the Lord’s protection, we really can answer the difficult questions. But the truth is, we start this by firstly saying, “I’m not sure” to those who ask, and then daily asking the Lord to fill in these answers for us, instead of letting the world or letting drugs fill these blank spaces for us. No, we must do that between ourselves and the Lord, daily. We have as believers the duty to show ourselves approved of God by studying HIS answers, both found in the Word and through prayer, and in communion with our church community.
But the real spice for me, and it’s what makes “People” eminently listenable, the constant driving rhythm and joy springing from this album is so fun to immerse yourself in, all day. Slightly reminding me of The Police’s vibe on hits like “Every Breath You Take” without the creep factor. It gives me a spring in-step throughout the work day, and through some difficult thoughts I’ve had to go through the last few days. God can bring each of us BACK and through and back again to do something EVER BETTER than we’ve done before. Even 16 years later. So LET’S go do it.
Enjoy the album here on Spotify as well.
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