Watashi Wa
San Luis Obispo, California4 reviews across 3 releases
Watashi Wa is a Christian pop-rock band from San Luis Obispo, California, formed in 1999 while most of its members were teenagers. Led by singer and guitarist Seth Roberts, the quartet began with the 2000 debut Lost a Few Battles... Won the War, which combined Y2K punk's rough singing and loose drumming with melodic writing and vulnerable songs about personal confusion. What's in the Way sharpened that approach into energetic pop-emo, built around driving tempos, anthemic choruses and repeated hooks; its lyrics addressed faith, love and the death of a friend without abandoning the band's directness. The 2003 move to Tooth & Nail brought a cleaner, more polished sound on The Love of Life, with radio-rock production and Goo Goo Dolls comparisons replacing much of the earlier punk edge.
In July 2004, Watashi Wa broke up, and Roberts formed Eager Seas with other former members. Tooth & Nail subsequently issued the new group's first album under the Watashi Wa name in 2006, after which the musicians continued as Eager Seas and released the Photographs EP through The Militia Group. Roberts revived Watashi Wa for People Like People, released by Tooth & Nail in 2022, sixteen years after the previous album. The revived project included longtime bassist Jeremy Wells alongside newer collaborators, with Roberts again handling the songwriting and production.
3 releases reviewed
Lost a Few Battles... Won the War
What's in the Way
The Love of Life