Wavves

All Music Guide:

Named for his fear of the ocean, Wavves, the skuzzy project of San Diego slacker Nathan Williams, is a blend of distorted no-fi and refined sunshiny melodies. Charmingly messy, most of his lyrics, while difficult to decipher, generally revolve around the subjects of weed, boredom, and the beach -- when he isn't poking jabs at the gloomy subculture of goth rock (a common theme, found in "Goth Girls," "California Goths," "Summer Goths," "Surf Goths," and "Beach Goths"). Wavves was conceived just after Williams, at age 21, quit his job as a clerk at Music Trader, while he was dividing his free time between skateboarding, writing for his hip-hop blog, Ghost Ramp, and making music using an '80s Tascam cassette recorder and Garage Band software. Due to his inexperience with the program, the result of one month's worth of bedroom recording sessions was two full albums of songs: all completely mangled by overdriven inputs. Rather than scrapping the material, he embraced the in-the-red aesthetic and started promoting the songs online. Wavves was quickly embraced and touted as "the next big thing" by Internet music critics and fellow bloggers.

Many praised the immediacy and D.I.Y. nature of his work, and Williams capitalized on those aspects, continuously uploading free digital versions of his music -- including two 7" singles, a cassette, and an EP -- all with simple self-drawn artwork or scanned photos for cover art. Wavves' first LP, simply titled Wavves, became available around this time as well, and it was released in a limited run by Woodsist. The more confusingly titled Wavvves (note the third "V") followed just after, and was planned for release by De Stijl before Williams jumped ship to Fat Possum. After the track list was revamped, the release date was pushed back a month and Wavvves was officially made available on March 17, 2009. After receiving mostly glowing reviews in April, Wavves got his share of bad press in late May. While performing live at the Primavera Sound Festival, assisted by drummer Ryan Ulsh, Williams had a minor meltdown and walked offstage. Later, he issued an apology, chalking up the incident to poor decision-making and a drug concoction of ecstasy, Valium, and Xanax. In 2010, after recording a few tracks with indie drummer extraordinaire Zach Hill, Williams entered the studio with Grammy-winning producer Dennis Herring to record a straightforward and surprisingly polished album. Following the August release of King of the Beach, Wavves toured as a trio with Williams assisted by former bandmates of the late Jay Reatard, bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes. In the fall of 2011, Williams released a new EP under the Wavves name, titled Life Sux, featuring guest appearances by Best Coast and Fucked Up.

Wikipedia:

Wavves is an American surf rock band based in San Diego, California.

History [edit]

Formation and early days [edit]

Wavves started in 2008 as the recording project of Nathan Williams (born June 12, 1986 in Santa Monica, California). Wavves released several 7"s as well as a cassette leading up to the first two releases, Wavves (Woodsist) and Wavvves (Fat Possum/Bella Union). After gaining recognition, Ryan Ulsh was enlisted as a touring drummer and Wavves embarked on their first US and European tours. Wavves released their self-titled debut album in 2008, subsequently drawing the attention of Pitchfork Media. At the time, the band consisted of guitarist Nathan Williams and drummer Ryan Ulsh.

Wavvves (2009-2010) [edit]

Their second full-length album, Wavvves, was released on February 3, 2009, and was well received by outlets such as Spin, The Onion A.V. Club, and Pitchfork.

Singer Nathan Williams experienced a public breakdown as the band was unable to complete their set at the 2009 Barcelona Primavera Sound Festival. Williams, who admitted he'd taken a cocktail of ecstasy and Valium, fought with drummer Ryan Ulsh and insulted the Spanish crowd, who then pelted him with bottles and a shoe. Apologizing for their performance, Williams admitted the next day that he was addicted to alcohol. As a result, the band canceled the remainder of their European tour. When Ulsh quit the band, Zach Hill from Hella replaced him as the drummer for Wavves for a brief time. Two members formerly of the late Jay Reatard's band, drummer Billy Hayes and bassist Stephen Pope, joined Wavves in November 2009. Williams also reported that an album featuring Zach Hill on drums was to be expected towards the end of 2010 along with a possible EP featuring Hayes and Pope.

King of the Beach (2010-2011) [edit]

The third Wavves album, titled King of the Beach, was released on August 3, 2010, by Fat Possum Records, and features the latest lineup of Nathan Williams, Billy Hayes, and Stephen Pope. The album received generally positive reviews from the likes of Paste Magazine, Dusted Magazine, and The Onion's A.V. Club. The album received an average of 72 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 26 critics reviews. The album was named the 24th-best album of the year by Spin, and the 50th best album of the year by Pitchfork. The group's single "Post Acid" was featured in a 3 minute and fifty second promotional cartoon called: "Scott Pilgrim vs. the Animation"

Wavves released a new EP, Life Sux, in September 2011. It consisted of six tracks, including cameos from Bethany Cosentino and Bob Bruno from Best Coast, also Damian Abraham from Fucked Up. The album also contains a live track "In the Sand".

Billy Hayes left Wavves in November 2010 and was replaced by Jacob Cooper, formerly of The Mae Shi.

In 2011, Wavves made a guest appearance in the short-lived MTV animated series Good Vibes, performing their songs "King of the Beach," "Bug," and "I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl".

Afraid of Heights (2012-present) [edit]

Wavves appeared on Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, on the song "Shoes for Running," which was released December 11, 2012.

On December 12th, 2012 Wavves released a music video for the song "Sail to the Sun". Nathan Williams announced the release on his Twitter.

Wavves released their fourth studio album, Afraid of Heights on March 26, 2013 on Mom + Pop Music