Review Summary: Wavves third album is both their first not recorded using a built-in mic on a laptop, but also their first that sounds like a real band. This album is the perfect summer record, one about growing up and realizing life has limits.
It always seems like summer is never as great as I hope it would be. Sure, both school and the sun are out, but it seems like I make up for the daily stress of school or bad weather with over thinking pretty much everything about my life. While most people my age are out at the pool or the beach, I’m sitting here at my desk writing this review. But maybe that’s just a misconception I’ve been told to believe by relentless advertising. If that’s true, all I can say is that it worked.
This is the third record by Wavves, but their first as a real band, as well as the first not recorded using the built-in microphone on a laptop. For this record, Singer-Songwriter Nathan Williams has recruited a new rhythm section that used to play with the late garage-punk rocker Jay Reatard. Not that I can’t listen to lo-fi records, but with the much more clear recording quality you can finally hear Wavves as a band that not only are talented musicians and songwriters but also have great dynamics. Wavves also bring in a lot of new influences: Pop and Psychedelic music from the 1960’s, and newer bands like Animal Collective and Neon Indian.
The first thing that came to my mind after hearing this record for the first time was “summer album”. But this record isn’t the type of summer album I thought it was at first. The opening and title track, “King of the Beach”, is the perfect example of what I mean. The song introduces you both the Surf-Punk sound of a lot of the songs, but also to the fun summer style. Williams sings, “You’re never gonna stop me/king of the beach”, and it perfectly summarizes the song. It’s summer. You’re young. You’re invincible. However it doesn’t take long before reality sets in for Williams and his misguided sense of limitlessness.
The next two songs on the record, “Super Soaker” and “Idiot”, take a huge jump. The surf-punk style of the opening track is still there, but Williams is more resentful. Even with the beaches and the other glamorous things about summer, he is unhappy. Not only is he unhappy, he believes he’s a fake. “I’d say I’m sorry/but it wouldn’t mean ***”. Williams finds himself lost in the selfish nature of uncontrolled youth, but at least he’s starting to realize it. Another track that goes along with these songs is the first single from the album. “Post-Acid” may come off as a simple love song, very similar to Best Coast’s “When I’m with You”. However, if you pay close attention to the opening line, ““Misery, won’t you comfort me?”, you’ll realize that he isn’t in love and having the time of his life with another human being, but instead he is sharing it with his own misery. Even though Williams surrounds him self with fun, he is still haunted by misery and depression.
Wavves introduce a few more toys with this record as well. Synthesizers, drum machines, samplers. Something tells me they really loved Animal Collective’s last album (they even recorded this album at the same studio). But Wavves don’t use their new instruments to just copy off bands like Animal Collective; they apply them to both their sounds and some of their other influences to bring something original and interesting to the table. The clearest examples of this different sound is songs like “When will you come?”, “Baseball Cards”, and “Mickey Mouse”. Unlike some of the synthesizers used on Tame Impala’s recent release, the synths and samples on these songs don’t feel too forced or too awkward. They serve a purpose and are executed well. These songs give the record a great flow that makes listening to it all the way through not only easy but fun.
As the album starts to close, it becomes clear that Williams and Wavves are starting to give in and give up their youth spirits. On “Green Eyes”, Williams admits that he isn’t “man enough” to run away from it all. While “Linus Spacehead” gives some last hope that the spirit of youth will never die, the closing track, “Baby Say Goodbye”, is the finally give in. Wavves say goodbye to it all because they have finally found love and realized they need security. They grow up.
As I sit in my room this summer, probably watching the history channel or something equally as non-cool, I’m sure I’ll hear the sounds of a group of teenagers my age walking around, laughing, and having fun. For them, I’ll smile and be happy that they’re actually happy. But I know in that in the back of my mind that that spirit of youth doesn’t last forever. King of the Beach may start off winey, but it ends honestly. King of the Beach isn’t just the soundtrack to summer, it’s the soundtrack to realizing that you’re not invincible and infinite.
