Wavves

The music of 22-year-old Nathan Williams is oddly steeped in cultural nostalgia at the same time it treads new pop territory. Wavves shows a clear affection for days gone by: artwork consists of an old snapshot of a kid skateboarding, past releases include a cassette recording, and surf culture and peace signs are much a part of Wavves lexicon as are trends like “goth” and “bedroom pop.” The biggest throwback, however, is the garbled interpretation of the music of the Beach Boys, aping that band’s affection for simple, hooky pop melodies with enough falsetto “oooohs,” “ahhas” and “la la la la la”-filled choruses that one surmises Williams grew up on the stuff. Outrageously lo-fi and murky, the tracks here are also fairly stripped down, simple and primitive. From “pop” nuggets like “California Goth” or “The Boys Will Love Us” to the stoner meanderings of “Space Raider” and “Yoked,” Wavves’ official “debut” bristles with all kinds of energy, and serves as a clear antidote to mopey, slacker indulgences. A good blast of “Teenage Super Party” does wonders.

One-man San Diego fuzz-punk outfit Wavves' debut full-length on the Woodist label is packed with supremely catchy melodies buried beneath an avalanche of lo-fidelity gunk; the album comes off as both exhilaratingly immediate and utterly tossed off.