Review of Wavvves by Wavves
Slacker-pop hooks drenched in a deep layer of Jesus and Mary Chain level fuzzy distortion, is it rad? Totally - for a while. Like some kind of disenchanted lo-fidelity Brian Wilson, California native and Pitchfork darling Nathan Williams a.k.a. Wavves, has released his second full length effort in a matter of months. Imagine if Calvin Johnson produced a Beach Boys record and you get a pretty decent idea of what Wavves' sophomore album, Wavvves, sounds like for the most part. Two thirds of this album chugs along in this style; heavy distortion on every instrument and throwaway lyrics about skateboarding, gothic love and being bored. Anchored down by the seemingly effortless pop sensibility Williams possesses, fans of Beat Happening, Pavement and The Black Keys will find Wavves' pop hits like So Bored and Get In The Sun hard to resist. The album does have its lows. Along with the pop hooks, Williams seems to have a penchant for dreary experimental tracks. Rainbows Everywhere and Goth Girl are still drowned in Wavves' signature brand of distortion, but rather than sing-along choruses, the songs are made up entirely of off key oscillations, minimalism is one thing but this is just incredibly boring. Another problem is that production-wise there's not really enough variation to let songs stand out from one another. It's all a bit samey, which doesn't help it lend itself for multiple listens. I think this problem really stems back to the kind of rushed feeling the album has. Sure, the ideas are all solid and with a few more months of fermentation, Wavvves could be an absolute stunner. It's not bad. It's just not as good as I want it to be.