Wavves frontman Nathan Williams is a bitch. He's also an asshole, a coward, a dickhead, and an irresponsible, no-contributing zero. If that sounds harsh, that's because it is. It's also the most prevalent theme on the SoCal band's third album, King of the Beach, which essentially plays like 40 minutes of ennui-fueled self-flagellation. It is for this very reason, however, that the album is successful. By exploring notions of isolation and inadequacy (balanced with boredom and leisure), he's also exploring, and in many cases successfully capturing, some of the most vital parts of youth. In an era of manufactured nostalgia through sonic signifiers and esoteric cultural references, Williams has found a way to create something honest, often times at his own expense.
It was really easy to dismiss the band's second album, Wavvves, as a Pitchfork, hipster hype-fueled fail parade shrouded in layers of fuzz as compensation for lack of ability. I said the same thing when I heard the album on first listen. After a while, however, it grew on me; the fuzz began to make sense in the albums' context. With King of the Beach, Williams has proven that he can not only hit the notes, but he can create a cohesive, still gritty yet clean record. I hope upon listening to KOTB, Wavvves detractors will give the latter another listen.
Breakdown backstory notwithstanding, Williams avoided a potential pitfall with KOTB by not only enlisting Producer Dennis Herring (whose resume includes The Hives, Modest Mouse and Ben Folds, among others) but also including his current bandmates Stephen Pope and Billy Hayes who formerly worked with Jay Reatard. These decisions enabled Wavves to create an album Williams wouldn't have been able to do alone. And for a man who appears destined to disaster when left to his own devices, the decision becomes that much more significant.
On to the music. I totally agree with my colleague Tim's assessment that the album is front-loaded. The caustic guitar that characterizes the first six tracks is more or less absent on the last six. Yet, in spite of the tone shift (from aggressive to spaced-out) between the two sides, the album retains its cohesiveness, due in large part to Williams' newfound grasp on melody and subtle production cues (like the dissonant claps that shudder in and out throughout the album).
In macro, one has to contextualize Wavves as a California punk band in the Internet age; which means they owe their sound as much to The Descendents as they do to the Beach Boys as they do to Animal Collective as they do to No Age. The true accomplishment of this album is synthesizing all of these readily available references into something that feels new: a more aggressive, youthful angst take on the summer fun inhabiting the (indie) music world at this time.
As the second half of the album seems to hint at a new direction for Wavves, it'll be interesting to see the perspective we get on King of the Beach when a new album is released, as we did this time. That is, unless Nathan Williams self-destructs by then.
Best Listened To: On a Saturday morning after you've been a dick to all of your friends the night before. Preferably drinking Gatorade to rehydrate as you sweat toxins in oppressive August heat, wearing Wayfarers.
Highlight tracks: "King of the Beach" is in the running for the track of the summer; just so infectious. "Idiot," as Tim said, has a great melody, and just thrashes. "Baseball Cards" is a great chill song. "Green Eyes," is probably the height of emotion on the album, and just has a flat-out awesome melody.
Wavves - King of the Beach by BubbleWolf
Best,
Erik
(Image by parttimemusic, licensed under Creative Commons)
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