(late) Review - Wavves - self-titled

"With lo-fi at his command, Wavves is your favorite summer album."


Certainly a refreshing listen, Wavves (Nathan Williams) has carved an interesting niche for himself. lo-fi enough for the hipsters, poppy enough for the older indie rock crowd (i.e. old Built to Spill fans and 'Avery Island' devotees) and fuzzed-out enough for the alt-heads.

Having some previous releases on No Age's Dean Spunt's label Post Present Medium, the fellow noise-popper now signed to the Fat Possum label, has put together a collection of tracks varying from an 8-bit, synth-chunk assault in the albums opener 'Rainbow Everywhere', twisted and mangled tribal, sister-track 'Sun Opens My Eyes' and bright, fuzzy, skate-punk anthems of the 'Teenage Daydream' variety like 'Get in the Sun'.

But, before you can get out your SYR bootlegs and washing-machine tees, the albums great layout mixes things up with 'More Fur' which sounds like a one-way conversation with Satan.

After the dark lord signs off, we get another woozy, Beach Boys jam with 'So Bored' and then a trifecta of goth-centric tracks - the highlight being 'Summer Goth 2', an acid-country jam with enough sustain to fill any space left in the EQ.

Final rating: 8.1/10
Key tracks: 'Get in the Sun', 'No Hope Kids', 'So Bored'

VIDEO: Wavves - 'So Bored' (live at Upset the Rhythm, from their YouTube channel)