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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Wavves - King of The Beach

Nathan Williams - who goes by the name Wavves - returns with a new record that, rather than being home-recorded in fits and spurts on a laptop as his previous recordings were, was put together over three months at a studio in Mississippi with Modest Mouse producer Dennis Herring and Jay Reatard’s backing band. The result is a less distorted album that still manages to retain his grungy, surf sound.

At its best, King Of The Beach’s Californian punk-pop lands satisfactorily between The Beach Boys and The Jesus and Mary Chain. “You’re never gonna stop me,” yells Williams over the album’s irrepressible title track that opens proceedings thrillingly. In spite of this triumphant start, Williams’ lyrics - presumably gleaned from the bottom of a bong - are generally self-hating and riddled with almost caricatured slacker angst. “I’m an idiot,” he whines. “My own friends hate me/But I don’t give a shit.” All of this is kinda appealing in small doses - and will tap into the mindset of young teens with a chip on their shoulder - but those who have been there and done that when grunge first came about might find it hard to empathise with William’s rather tenuous attempts at loserdom.

However, there are undoubtedly a couple of absolutely belting tunes on King Of The Beach. When Williams’ slacker vibe is more focused on having fun than feeling like the world is out to get him, it’s really infectious and makes you want to cruise around in the sunshine with a bag of weed in your pocket and a couldn’t-give-a-fuck attitude.

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