First Impressions: Wavves - King of the Beach

New Wavves. Wasn't a huge fan of his last record (though I liked No Hope Kids a lot), but I've been hearing good things about this new one...let's just launch right into it (you can stream it here for free):

King of the Beach - leading off with the title track. good move. the sound is much cleaner and punchier than i expected. the verse is kind of a rip-off of No Hope Kids, but still pretty catchy. the chorus is a little lacking, but it does sound pretty nice when the instruments drop out. works nicely as a lead track. could have been a little shorter though, but i usually think that.

Super Soaker - i wasn't expecting such straight-forward pop songs. it's weird to have the vocals so clean (relatively speaking), especially since his pipes are not his strong suit (or so i thought). the song builds up to a pretty nice frenzy. backing band is really tight. nice second track. 

Idiot - wow, what a great melody. expectations have been exceeded so far. great production on this one, especially with the backing vocals. lead vox sound really good too. i continue to be pleasantly surprised.

When Will You Come - starts out with the classic 50's doo-wop drum part. heavy on the reverb and a nice change of pace. not crazy about the helium vocals, but the backing ooh's are nice. seems like an odd track to put at #4 (sounds more like a closer to me), but we'll see what #5 brings...

Post Acid - well, i've already heard this song a couple of times. i kind of hated it at first (mostly because the chorus reminded me of Jimmy Eat World), but it makes a little more sense in the context of the album. it's not the most interesting song on the disc, but i can see its appeal as a lead single. 

Take On The World - the album so far has been very cohesive, and this track continues in that vein. man, this really reminds me of another band, but i can't peg it (maybe a little Tripping Daisy?). wavves dude knows what he does well, as the same tricks turn up on most songs (not a bad thing though). really like the chorus on this one. might be my favorite of the tracks so far.

Baseball Cards - i used to love baseball cards, so this song already has my attention. this is more of the production i was expecting...a little more fuzzed-out and buried. nice effect on the hand claps. good backing vox as usual. pretty cool when the song turns. really dig the layered vocals and trippy synths. 

Convertible Balloon - hmm...not really sure about this one right off the bat. it makes me miss the last song. the 80's sound references are fun and all, but i don't think it comes together effectively.

Green Eyes - he's losing me a little bit here. i commend him for trying to change things up a bit, but he is straying a little too far away from the formula that had made the album really good up to this point. i was ready for the song to be over at the 2:30 mark...next song needs to be good. 

Mickey Mouse - good intro. very Animal Collective. love the harmony at the end of the phrases. kind of waiting for something else to happen now. liked the drop out, but was hoping it would come back in a little harder. i could really use a 2:00 pop song right about now.

Linus Spacehead - straight out of 1995. not a bad song, but it's a little too "alternative rock". was hoping for something other than a mid-tempo power chord chugger.

Baby Say Goodbye - is this Fountains of Wayne? seriously. was really not expecting a song like this. a little annoying, but still really catchy. i do enjoy how the dozens of overdubbed vocal tracks all meld together to close the song out. kind of want to hear this one again right away, since it ends completely differently than how it began.

Closing Thoughts

I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. The album is front-loaded for the most part, and there were a couple of tracks that I could have done without, but I definitely will be listening to this one again. I can see the potential of many of the tracks getting stuck in my head ("you're never gonna stop me" is already in there).

Curious to hear what Erik thinks of this one...

VBtk