Early leaks from Nathan Williams’ Wavves project (‘Mickey Mouse’ and ‘Post Acid’) had me frothing at the mouth. His DIY ethos, Lo-Fi slacker approach and crazy concert antics had me intrigued.
Kicking off 2010′s studio effort with stereo-typical-proto-punk tune ‘King of the Beach’ gives the listener a hint to what ‘Wavves’ is all about; 60′s-by-way-of-90′s punk forms the basis of the album, with tracks like ‘Super Soaker’, ‘Post Acid’ and ‘Idiot’ backing up the opener with some furious aural assaults.
Williams may be traveling a well trodden road on occasions, yet his ability to slip between the role of indie crooner (‘When Will You Come’ or ‘Convertible Balloon’) eclectic-mind melter (‘Baseball Cards’, ‘Mickey Mouse’) and his default the punk monikier without any effort seems both curious and inventive.
It’s hard to escape the nostalgic feeling that this album gives me, and while I feel incredibly lazy making comparisons to other artists when summarising albums – even one that displays it’s influences so obviously – on it’s own merits ‘King of the Beach’ is 36 minutes of the most pleasing and enjoyable (Read:AMAZING) music I’ve heard in a very, very long time.
Take in the glorious ‘Post Acid’ below. ‘King of the Beach’ is released early August through Fat Possum Records.