Wavvves

They Say...

Review by Jason Lymangrover, All Music Guide

22-year-old San Diego slacker turned noise artist turned highly touted blog sensation Nathan Williams thrives on rebelling with a volcanic, punk rock, "I don't give a rip" attitude. If there's an opportunity to alienate people, he takes it. Case and point: his discography. There's the confusing spelling of Wavves and its multifaceted usage as the name of his solo project, the title of his debut album, and that album's third (and potentially best) song. Then, there's a slight differentiation in spelling for his second album Wavvves -- note the additional "v" in the title -- with cover art that, like the first album, is simply an old snapshot of a skateboarding kid; no text. Maybe he enables this sort of confusion on purpose to show off his indifference, knowing that irreverent behavior lends itself to indie credibility. Then again, maybe inaccessibility is just in his fiber. Even his ultra-catchy pop songs are mangled by a crude boombox-tape recording style and ever present buzzy fuzz. Like Times New Viking and Lovvers (yep, another band with duel v's), the grime surrounding the songs makes them more edgy and endearing, and takes them to a new level. Unfortunately, the hook-laden moments on Wavvves are few, and they're sandwiched between experimental tracks of instrumental noise-scapes that could be construed as artistic, but are more apt to annoy. Wedged between the brilliant slice-of-life pop single "No Hope Kids," and the instantly hummable "So Bored," there's the painful, stretched and screwed static clamor "More Fur"; a track that sounds more like a faulty disc-read than an actual song with purpose. With the abundance of muck to sort through, you have to wonder what would have happened if Williams had gone a different route, scrapped the filler, and taken his most realized songs to flush out an album with killer material. Instead, over the course of a year, he released two albums, a cassette, two 7"s, and an EP, each of which have two or three standout gems. His ability to pump out the music is admirable, now he just needs a filter to sift the crap from the gold. If he hones in on his vision, there's spectacular potential. Until then, we'll have to take the bad with the good or self-compile a "greatest-hits of Wavves 2008/2009" mix tape. "No Hope Kids" and "More Fur" would certainly make side A.