Wavves : King of the Beach :: Review
Within the past year, Wavves have gone through a lot of ups and downs, namely losing a band member, which is problematic when the band is a duo and live performances were marred by on stage meltdowns that would make bands like The Kinks or Oasis blush. However, chief songwriter Nathan Williams regrouped in the beginning of 2010 with a new rhythm section, namely bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes both former members of the late Jay Reatard’s backing band, and recorded “King of the Beach” at Sweet Tea Recording with Dennis Herring who was determined to coax more of a proper album from them than a laptop could.
“King of the Beach” became an album that is more song oriented than the previous Wavves fuzz outs and feedback driven freak-outs. “King of the Beach” is the sum of its newfound parts and it definitely has the taint of a Jay Reatard album all over it. Not that the word taint is used here derogatorily but if it was, I’m sure that the late singer wouldn’t mind. Things are more poppy on this album and there’s a sunnier vibe that runs through this material that wasn’t found on their S/T sophomore album. Hence the title, “King of the Beach” isn’t necessarily self-deprecating as the music contained within could be the soundtrack to your summer vacation.
“King of the Beach” is over the top, bratty and in your face as the S/T opener grabs you by the collar with its dialed back distortion and super catchy melody. “Super Soaker” and “Linus Spacehead” both feature falsetto laced choruses and sound like they’re cut from the same cloth of reverberated 60’s pop. “Baseball Cards” almost sounds like someone in the band got a hold of those spacey sound effects that were left over from one of Steve Miller’s 70’s sessions and grafted some girl group vocals to them. Like some other tracks on the album, “Baseball Cards” and the later “Mickey Mouse” both drown in their own affected excess and never cut loose from their insular humor. Perhaps that’s part of their charm, in comparison “Post Acid” and “Green Eyes” seem more reflective of William’s present self-loathing. Album closer, “Baby Say Goodbye” has a cool layered call and response thing going on which will rattle around in your brain for days.
Wavves 2.0 is a more interesting beast than its previous iteration and it’s good to see that Nathan Williams is a survivor as evidenced by the variety on “King of the Beach.” Let’s hope that it lasts. “King of the Beach” is available digitally on July 1st and physically August 3rd on Fat Possum.
Rating: 
