King of the Beach [LP]

by Wavves

Overview

Snotty and self-loathing as ever, even after catching a huge updraft of success, Wavves' 2010 outing finds indie rock's Edward Furlong, aka Nathan Williams, in an actual hi-fi studio. Teamed with Counting Crow/Modest Mouse producer Dennis Herring, who approached Williams after a show, King of the Beach finds the overnight blog sensation in a cleaned-up setting. With more recording toys at his disposal, he takes more risks, showing a new dimension to his stoned mind as he breaks away from muddy skate punk and tries his hand at some dense psychedelia. The sunny "Take on the World" takes a Beulah approach, and "Baseball Cards" finds Williams experimenting with chillwave, complete with weird Ween Quebec-era synths. Of course, Williams is at his best when he's rocking to the beat of his punk heroes the Descendents or Adolescents, and with Jay Reatard's former bandmates Billy Hayes and Stephen Pope by his side, "Super Soaker," "Idiot," and "Post Acid" are among Wavves' thrashin' best. In this glossy well-mixed setting, the songs are more penetrable than the ones on the 2009 homemade outings Wavves and Wavvves. "I'm so Bored," despite being fantastic, was leveled out by so much tape distortion that it took a dedicated ear to cut through the muck and find the melody. King of the Beach is less abrasive, but it's still a wildly messy pastiche. Wavves sometimes gets carried away --"Neon Balloon" and its sea of synth gurgles and helium vocals is near silly -- but when Williams finds his stride and carves the tube of punky psych sonics, the results are totally awesome. ~ Jason Lymangrover

Product Details

Release Date:	08/03/2010
Label:	Fat Possum Records
UPC:	0767981122410
Rank:	44891

Tracks

1. King of the Beach
2. Super Soaker
3. Idiot
4. When Will You Come
5. Post Acid
6. Take on the World
7. Baseball Cards
8. Convertible Balloon
9. Green Eyes
10. Mickey Mouse
11. Linus Spacehead
12. Baby Say Goodbye

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Wavves   Primary Artist
Bill Hayes   Drums,Vocals,Keyboards
Nathan Williams   Drums,Guitar,Vocals,Keyboards,Percussion,Vibraphone,Drum Machine
Stephen Pope   Bass,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Guitar (Baritone)

Technical Credits

Dennis Herring   Mixing,Composer,Producer
Kyle "Slick" Johnson   Mixing,Engineer
Howie Weinberg   Mastering
Bill Hayes   Composer
Matthew Agoglia   Mastering
Michael Stout   Editing,Assistant
Amelia Braekke-Dyer   Logo
Kelly Seagraves   Artwork
Margaret Graves   Artwork
Nathan Williams   Composer,Programming,Instrumentation
Stephen Pope   Composer
Will Cole   Editing,Assistant