This critic booed Wavves' eponymous first album and semi-eponymous (Wavvves) second album. But they've grown on me a little bit since. It's not easy to admit, but new Wavves albums have become a welcome prospect. As Pitchfork darlings, festival staples and now major-label signees, Wavves are certainly a semi-mainstream alternative to the underground garage-punk empire bubbling beneath them. And moreover, their general "whatever forever" M.O. and summertime vibes are exactly what some of us just want and need, especially when the warmer months roll in.
2010's King of the Beach is what initially convinced me there might actually be good music hiding beneath the fuzzed-out, blown-out, no-fi blast of Wavves' home-recorded first releases. Founding member Nathan Williams revealed a remarkable knack for tossing out effortlessly catchy pop-punk tunes, creating a sunny mix of psychedelic pop and hardcore punk that makes for a nearly perfect day-drinking, poolside summer companion.
If it lends him any DIY cred, Williams paid for the recording of last month's Afraid of Heights out of his own pocket. Bassist Stephen Pope, who parted ways with punk prodigy Jay Reatard just months before Reatard's untimely death, joined Wavves three years ago. Williams and Pope spent a year with producer John Hill (MIA, Santigold, Wu Tang) making the record at their own pace before returning their investment through a deal with Mom + Pop Records (perhaps an ironic name for a Warner Bros. imprint). This wasn't, however, before taking meetings with every other major label around, even if for no other reason than the free dinners.
The result is a bigger, beefier, more dynamic album that indulges in only its predecessor's finer elements. Afraid of Heights' 13 tracks teeter between three-chord, quiet-loud-quiet bangers and more stripped-down power-chord acoustic tunes heavy on melody, trying hard for lyrical prowess and rich with samples, textures, woozy Mellotrons, mournful strings and swooning, echo-y harmonies.
Wavves' 2011 Life Sux EP — as well as their Internet-only cover of Sonic Youth's "100%" — revealed the band's predilection for '90s fetishism, but it was only a taste of what was coming. The influence of Green Day's sneering, revved-up Dookie nihilism is transparent on Afraid of Heights' "Paranoid." The title track — featuring headphone-audible-only guest vocals from Jenny Lewis — is an epic, fuzzy dirge that reveals the unmistakable influence of Weezer's blue debut.
Overall, the sarcastically sad-sack musings and stupefied, melodic drone of Nevermind pop up from beginning to end, but culminate pleasantly on "Dog." Lyrically, "Dog" is an outright Stooges reference, but the song stands out sonically if only because it's basically a three-minute mash-up of Nirvana's entire Unplugged performance.
This self-loathing, inward angst is a far cry from the bratty bravado for which the band is infamous, but it lacks the resonance of its inspiration. While some critics herald the record, citing brutal honesty, dark insight and emotional maturity, maybe it's Williams' habitual stoner-living-in-an-Urban Outfitters-catalog persona that makes the angst a hard pill to swallow. Either way, the Williams/Pope brand of alienation is far more exclusionary than the generational touchstones it rides on.
While their influences are firmly affixed to all four of their sleeves, Williams and Pope still have impeccable taste in source material. Afraid of Heights' length may test your attention span, but the catchier tunes aren't too few or far between. The textures and tempos fluctuate often enough to keep things interesting. Moreover, the beachy, breezy, summery, ocean-scented SoCal vibes that have undergirded the Wavves catalog will always pair well with whatever influences they're aping at the time, thus creating a respectably original amalgam.
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