Wavves: A Personal Experience

When I heard that Wavves would be playing a show at The Bowery in Manhattan on August 4, I knew I had to be there.

I was never really a fan of Wavves until I saw the album art for their most recent album, King of the Beach, which depicts a cat smoking a joint surrounded by palm trees and a colorful, pyramid-pattern backdrop.

I had always been turned off to their "lo-fi," distorted, noise-rock sound, but after seeing that album artwork and attending their show, I decided to give them another listen.

The new album is a lot more punk-geared than their previous two records, but there's still distortion hiding in the background.

I was expecting everyone at the show to be pretentious hipster snobs and kids rollin' on ecstasy. Well, I was half right!

The opening band Total Slacker, started off nicely. Their music wasn't terribly interesting, but I was bobbing my head and enjoying them for the most part. They were okay for stereotypical "indie" music, which was perfectly tolerable but kind of dull.

However, they took a turn for the worst when the singer/guitar player with a lovely blonde bowl-cut turned their set into a full-on, one-man jam session.

The bass player and drummer were playing their parts on loop while the lead singer basically made love to his guitar and the stage; jammin' out and smashing his guitar on the ground a few times.

The jam session lasted for a good 20 minutes and had the entire crowd giving each other looks that said, "Is this guy for real?" Luckily the next band made up for them.

Finally, the band I had been waiting for: Wavves. I saw a glimpse of their set-list before they started and, much to my pleasant surprise, noticed they were playing a lot of my favorite tunes, both old and new.

Some tracks that they played were "Green Eyes," "Wavves," "Super Soaker," "Weed Demon," "Beach Demon,"and "Post Acid."

Although most of Wavves' music is about weed, drugs, and the beach, they added substance by adding jokes and witty banter to their set.

Halfway through the set, the band decided to disregard the set list and improvised by playing whatever they wanted.

Even without a solid set list, they played very well and the crowd was absolutely wild. Audience members were dancing, pushing each other, stage diving, and crowd surfing.

Nathan Williams, the lead singer, did a little crowd surfing himself, which was fantastic for the fans. At the end of their set, Wavves went into a jam session of their own.

After a few listens, all of their music, including the heavy-duty lo-fi noise, will grow on the listener. Give Wavves a chance, and you may find yourself falling in love with the noise.