Wavves – King Of The Beach
Posted by: nick
So Wavves’ Nathan Williams is pretty famous in the indie world for splitting opinions (noisy shit or finger on the pulse genius?) and for having a drug n booze induced on stage breakdown of sorts during his set at Primavera festival in 2009. While we enjoyed snippets (‘So Bored’) of his 2009 self-titled debut we were hardly bowled over by the whole tin can tape hiss affair. On his new album for Bella Union however, the self proclaimed ‘King Of The Beach’ seems to have upped his game considerably.
For Fans Of: Best Coast, Male Bonding, Harlem.
On King Of The Beach Williams has ditched the hiss for a slicker production that allows his songwriting to shine through, the result being one of the most rewarding listens of the year so far and certainly one of the biggest surprises. Old Wavves fans will happily still find the snot nosed surf guitar jams of old (‘King Of The Beach’ / ‘Post Acid’) sounding as obnoxious as ever.
The self loathing gets turned up to maximum on the excellent ‘Green Eyes’ with lines like ‘My Own Friends Hate My Guts, Who Gives A Fuck’, while the addition of synths and female backing vocals to Wavves’ repertoire (‘Convertible Balloon’) add a depth previously lacking in Williams’ music. Check out surf pop album closer ‘Baby Say Goodbye’ complete with Sha-la-las to witness the transformation reach its completion.
We’re not sure where he’ll choose to go next musically but who cares when the here and now sounds this good.
Catch Wavves at London’s worst named venue, the Relentless Garage on November 10th.
