Wavves - V (Album Review)

A major label can be a bit of a test for fans. Usually the major label machine wants you to play to your strengths, the label's ultimate wants, and both the artists and the label want the desired mainstream hits and large audiences to buy many copies of the album. Wavves major label debut, Afraid Of Heights, saw the artists garnering some pretty nice reviews and a solid outing overall. On the band's new album, V, it seemed like there was trouble in paradise. Band leader Nathan Williams put a song on soundcloud only for it to be taken down by Warner Bros, which in turn caused Williams to air his frustration via social media. So it seemed like sharks may have hit the water near the beach (meaning sh** might be hitting the fan) in Wavves world. The carefree slackers seemed a little stressed leading up to V's release. I was really interested in this album as a fan of the band. I think Wavves has been able to maintain a larger amount of interest than some of his lo-fi turned studio quality peers over the course of their careers. Heck, a lot of them have broken up at this point.

A lot of artists fall into the major label machine of their albums feeling slightly watered down at some point in their career. It seems like it's hard to be an artist in a machine that wants to market you to the masses. V isn't the exception. Afraid Of Heights felt like progress from the excellent King Of The Beach. V feels like more of a return to the beach, but with a few less frills. The attempt creates a much more easily accessible album for mass consumption over Afraid Of Heights, but the weight of how well King Of The Beach sounded in 2010 has V paling a little in comparison. Now that's not to say this album isn't a pretty good album. It has tons of songs that hit all the right Wavves spots. It also starts exceptionally strong. "Heavy Metal Detox" and "Way Too Much" start the album really strong and feel a lot like vintage Wavves (well vintage-King Of The Beach era Wavves...not the rough sounding lo-fi era of Wavves).

The rest of the album basically follows suit. The album has the grunge, rockish elements, the surf rock elements, the pop/punk elements that have been present on pretty much all of Wavves albums. The band pretty much use all those elements in a similar way to the way they have done on most of their albums. There is an exception here or there. I like the smooth pop/punk, grunge, and alternative rock vibe of the song "Wait". The song has a smooth vibe while being upbeat and a little abrasive. I think a song like that shows the different influences coming together nicely and maybe better than they have on some songs in the past. Overall, though, if you've heard the previous two Wavves albums, especially King Of The Beach, you won't have to use much imagination to know how this album sounds. This album does get a lot less bogged down by slow burners in the way Afraid Of Heights did and I think it helps the album flow a lot better.

This album as a whole is a fine Wavves album and pretty enjoyable. I think some people will be looking for more progress, but overall it feels like Wavves is pretty much doing what they do. They've created another nice sounding studio album that sounds pretty clean with just enough fuzz on the guitar to make it sound slightly rough. Williams hits you with more down on his luck, lazy stoner lyrics that at times feel like anthems and at other times feel like they may never make it off the couch. That is part of the charisma of this group. Most of the time his vocal and lyrical ability have the charm of a millennial skipping school, work, or college to play X-box One and eat Taco Bell all day with a huge grin on their face. You can't help but enjoy it, but after a day of gaming and fast food you might end up wandering if there is something else you should be doing or if there should have been more progress. Ultimately, a lot like Williams mentality, you'll probably briefly think it before running to the fridge to see if there is any day old Chinese food to microwave. Meaning this album might leave you wanting more, but it will also have you returning for repeated listens to the best songs on this one.