Wavves - "King of the Beach" - Fat Possum Records
UPDATE: Hear KING OF THE BEACH, ALL THE WAY THROUGH, HERRRRE for FREE (or HERE; HERE; HERE; HERE or HERE)!!!
Wavves – “King of the Beach” MP3/download
Gumshoe’s Tiny Mix Tapes review of Wavves’ King of the Beach
I can’t help but feel like we’re back where we started all the way back in 2009; you’ll know what I mean when you check out my evaluation of the latest Wavves record.
Sigh.
I tried to listen, but couldn’t make it out of the first song.
i was wondering how the new “clean” Wavves sound would be judged by newcomers. hope you’re doing well jo jo!
really good words here, gum. i enjoyed this review. i think you nail this. your score is justified well though, on my first listens (~6-7) i’m enjoying this record a lot. i love it right now, but i do share some qualms you seem to have too…
about 1 half of ‘KOTB’ fucking annoys me – “convertible balloon”; “mickey mouse”, a song (and sound) i was hoping he wouldn’t explore on the full-length, a song i thought might have been a joke when it was leaked months ago. these songs make me feel like NW is just fucking with us. kind of like he’s looking around thinking “this is modern music? i can do that and call myself an dumbass while doing it”. i don’t know, maybe that is “punk” nowadays? but there’s a handful here (the one’s you point out + for me, “green eyes”) that thrill me like the last album did.
but maybe falsely so. because its not thrilling in a “whoa, that’s different” kind of way … i don’t think. thrilling maybe in his songwriting’s immediate effectiveness; shitty youth. annoying punk. in fact, i kept thinking of 2 albums while listening to ‘KOTB’ that i spent a majority of my early teen years obsessing over: Blink 182′s ‘dude ranch’ and Nirvana’s ‘nevermind’.
sorry for my thinking-out-loud on yr blog comment section. i think i just re-hashed your thoughts in the review.
that’s weird, i was just thinking about “dude ranch.” it’s impossible to say it these days without being reprimanded, but i’ll do it anyway: it’s a really good album. strangely my least favorite song of theirs has always been “dammit”, though I didn’t hear much beyond “take off yr pants” …
i was on the fence regarding “green eyes” so I just didn’t mention it. can’t decide if I like that one or not. and yeah, it definitely seems like NW is still feeling out/up his place in the whole punk-rock paradigm. thing is, he gets so much attention there’s no reason for him to refine his sound or progress (king of the beach is just like the other records, some GREAT songs, and a bunch of filler). it’s like Grizzly Bear. when everyone’s rambling about your music and putting your latest on decade-end lists the whole progression bands like the Beatles used to make back in the day are lost. see what i’m sayin’?
thanks for the comment, feel free to think aloud anytime!
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Interesting review.
I think the opener, “King of the Beach,” is the best track on the album and really exemplifies the best thing about NW’s sound (in my opinion: his replacement of Jay Reatard). I review the track in close detail on my blog.
Check it out if you’re interested:
http://allmyfriendsmag.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/track-review-—-wavves-king-of-the-beach/
absolutely! I agree about “kotb” and though i’m not sure about the Jay Reatard-replacement theory i’ve always equated the two as belonging to similar scenes and sounds …