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. Williams later issued an apology, chalking up the incident to poor decision-making and a drug concoction of ecstasy, Valium, and Xanax. - all music guide

Wavvves
Fat Possum
3.17.2009

Last month Wavves got into a messy spat with a member of The Black Lips here in Brooklyn. I'm guessing you read about it. Before the incident, before words and fists and boots and blood were exchanged in the wee hours of the Williamsburg morning, there was a mosh minded get together, fueled by kinetic fits of audience energy and Wavves' slackadaisical, SoCal power punk. This is that get together.

Filmed at the Market Hotel, the broken, busted, and booze drenched domicile provided the perfect sort of setting for a dirty, Friday night of slap happy thrills in Bushwick Brooklyn. Here, crusty old sheets flank the makeshift stage, towers of amps threaten to topple all those below, unintentional peaking eye holes dot the walls, and I swear there lay death traps in the worn wood flooring. One heavy set move and a lightning fast plummet to the depths below seems like a distinct possibility.

Yet somehow, someway, such an impoverished joint rings true and authentic for this kind of a show...the kind of place one needs to know about to know about...the kind of venue that demands a blending of the barrier (what barrier?) between performers and their youthful admirers. Thankfully we knew about it, and we're thrilled to bring you Wavves' entire set in all its screaming guitar and machine gun drum glory. - David Pitz

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