slayshTank

King of the Beach

This album wasn’t supposed to come out until August. I was really going to take my time in absorbing it, but since the release date was moved up (King of the Beach released digitally on July 13th) and it’s been streaming all over the web since late June, I guess I’ll have to say what we here at the Tank think.

After hearing “Post Acid”, Wavves’ King of the Beach single, released on Mountain Dew offshoot label Green Label Sound, I was telling everyone, optimistically, “When this thing drops, it’s going to be the album that defines the summer!” And although I wasn’t disappointed by any means, parts of King seemed to lack that adolescent urgency cloaked in three piece punk that “Post Acid” portrayed so well. While it’s not an album of “Post Acid’s” (which wouldn’t even be enjoyable anyways), King of the Beach manages to subvert assumptions about the California three-piece by rocking wrecklessly in all the right places and shifting down for some poppy, whimsical numbers that offer a nice contrast from Nathan Williams and co.’s post-punk barrage of shiny guitars, 60s inspired oo-ing and aah-ing , and snotty teenage nostalgia.

Somewhere between Williams’ ability to write what he thinks with such brutal honesty and his I-don’t-give-a-shit attitude lies his lyrical charm. Whether he’s being imaginative as on the dreamy and wistful “Convertible Balloon” (which made June’s Unofficial mix tape), bluntly crooning about insecurities (“I’m not supposed to be a kid but I’m an idiot/I’d say I’m sorry, but it wouldn’t mean shit.”) on “Idiot”, or indifferent and placating like on the grungy, Nirvana-esque rock of “Linus Spacehead”, you believe what he’s saying. Wavves is a band with no reservations (as if anyone else could pull off the chorus on “Idiot” and still retain credibility) and it permeates the album.

In an interview (you can watch the video below) earlier this summer about the upcoming album, Williams had this to say: ”I think the songs, first off, have to be for yourself, and if people relate to it, then that’s the reward of the whole thing.” It’s understandable that Wavves has taken that approach. With a surprising hit record, recorded at home, lyrics and vocals barely audible over distorted guitars and drums, something had to change. The adjustments were made in quality—as you can now hear what Williams is saying and discern on instrument from another—and approach, leaving the fundamentals of the band’s previous successes largely in tact. The band deserted the over-bled, and over-raw punk from Wavves eponymous, and actually did a little writing, Williams always opting for tongue-in-cheek passages that don’t necessarily rhyme instead of artful poetics.

“Super Soaker”, “Idiot”, “King of the Beach”, “Take on the World” would all fit right in with the band’s earlier catalogue. Each has the same high intensity guitar/drum clamor, and Williams’ nasally self-examining (sometimes deprecating) vocalizing. The songs, however, do much more than anything on the debut. Aside from a couple of fuzzed out teenage anthems, Wavves self-titled did no more than hint at what could be. King of the Beach is the response to the call, a Wavves endeavor in full Technicolor, so now the subtleties are audible and lend more testament to the band’s ability to write unmistakably good songs (hear: “Green Eyes”).

It’s almost as if the anticipation and pressure of a repeat to Wavves first LP drove the boys to the other end of the spectrum. For a group that’s capable of playing loud, obnoxious, punk rock, they’re also really good at tight-knit electro-pop. The lullaby-esque “Baseball Cards” and the shoegazing “When Will You Come” show a less-neurotic band astonishingly capable of tidy indie ballads.

Here’s the moral: if King of the Beach taught me anything it’s that, yes, it is indeed summertime and that means happy-go-lucky pop cranking out of car stereos on the beach (King of the Beach, of course, provides the perfect soundtrack), and… that expectations have a way of biting you in the ass. As much as I wanted to wallow in the glassy, feedback revelation that was “Post Acid” for forty-five minutes, King of the Beach—for all of its label-dodging and overturning presumptions of what the record would sound like and how successful it would be—was diverse and unexpectedly good.

Waves are currently out on tour in support of King of the Beach, which will be released physically on August 3rd on Fat Possum Records. Tour dates below:

07-15 Cologne, Germany – Sonic Ballroom
07-16 Berlin, Germany – White Trash
07-17 Münster, Germany – Gleis 22
07-18 Hamburg, Germany – Astratube
07-20 Ravenna, Italy – Beach Mini Festival
07-21 Paris, France – Fleche d’Or
07-23 London, England – Cargo
07-24 London, England – 1234 Festival
07-25 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
07-26 Leipzig, Germany – Sweat Club Leipzig
07-28 Copenhagen, Denmark – The Gun Club
07-29 Emmaboda, Sweden – Emmaboda Festival
07-31 Trondeim, Norway – Brukbar
08-06 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
08-07 Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza
08-12 San Diego, CA – Museum of Contemporary Art
08-13 Pomona, CA – The Glass House
08-14 Portland, OR – Berbati’s Pan
08-16 Santa Barbara, CA – Soho
08-17 Santa Cruz, CA – Crepe Place
08-18 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
08-25 Seattle, WA – Neumos
08-26 Vancouver, British Columbia – Biltmore
08-27 Victoria, British Columbia – Sugar
08-30 Sacramento, CA – Sol Collective
08-31 Visalia, CA – Howie and Sons Pizza

Yourstru.ly Presents: Wavves “King of the Beach” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.