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.

Best Coast - Crazy For You

Having caused a buzz with their early singles, California-based duo Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno release their debut long-player. Lyrically, it’s all summer lovin’, lazy hazy days and unobtainable boys. “I wish he was my boyfriend/I’d love him to the very end/But instead he is just a friend,” sings Cosentino on album-opener Boyfriend. Next, Jesus and Mary Chain-style reverb bleeds through some sweet Ronettes harmonies on the album’s title track. Cosentino has a lovely post grunge vocal that is effortless to the point of having a reluctance to it, like it’s a real drag sometimes for her to even summon up the words.

And so the album continues on with its evocative adolescent yearnings, like Vivian Girls getting stoned in their car and gazing at hot guys through the window while The Beach Boys play on the stereo. So far, so awesome, but the only slight problem is that, after a few tracks, it becomes clear there aren’t many musical dimensions to Crazy For You. Most songs adhere to mid-tempo garage-rock rather than offering any diversions. However, such lack of variety isn’t really a massive deal considering the 13 tracks are all over inside 30 minutes, and bolting on one of the more jaunty numbers, former single, When I’m With You, as a bonus track exits the album on the same high it came in on.

Hinting at greater things to come from Best Coast, Crazy For You is, at the very least, a musical escape - the coolest daydream of summers past. And that’s reason enough to be grateful.

The Black Ryder listening party

The Black Ryder gave a sneak preview of their upcoming debut album, Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride, with a pre-album listening party at the Monster Children Gallery in Sydney last week. The party included photos from their video clip shoot, and an exclusive viewing of the video itself.
As for the album, it has an atmosphere which somehow manages to be intense while also having a dreamy quality to it, as reverb-filled, psychedelic instrumentation mixes with haunting female vocals.

Imagine The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Raveonettes and Mazzy Star driving through the Nevada desert together in the hot, dusty sunset and you'll be on the right track. It hits the shops imminently.