Staff Reviews

Wavves - King of the Beach

Review by David Renshaw

What Wavves has created here however is a collection of gleaming pop gems, laced with self-hatred and a keen sense of rebellion. »

User reviews

• 2/10 by gloomy666

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in 2009 wavves went from buzz band to burnout in an alarmingly short period of time: on-stage meltdown, tour cancellation, fights etc. but some stuck with him, like best coast best bud bethany cosentino, the late jay reatard's backing band, and esteemed producer dennis herring. in its quest for an endless summer, 'king of the beach' wears its california lineage with pride. it's major-key and resplendently coloured, owing as much to orange county skate-punk as it does to the beach boys. in the past, williams' 1960s fixation mostly manifested in some falsetto brian wilson oohs and ahs, and that's still his go-to hook. but the references here are drawn from an exponentially wider palette: the twinkly, lovelorn 'when will you come' uses the evergreen 'be my baby' beat, while 'mickey mouse' cops from 'da doo ron ron' and distills person pitch to a three-minute essence. the charm is hearing williams going directly to the sources of his inspiration, whether it's the warped synth lope of 'baseball cards' or the jingle-like facility of 'convertible balloon'.
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