So exactly what kind of music are the kids listening to these days? With so many awesome genres like folktronica, black metal, and jazz fusion, it’s hard to keep on top of all the latest releases. One genre that seems to have been getting considerable attention lately is noise pop. Last.fm defines noise pop as “a subgenre of alternative/indie rock, noise pop is just what it says — pop music wrapped in barbed-wire kisses of feedback, dissonance, and abrasion.” Some of the bands in this genre that are currently “in” include Women, No Age, Abe Vigoda, and Wavves. In all honesty, I’m a rather newcomer to the noise pop scene and only know some of the bigger names. Additionally, I feel like noise pop is not necessarily the most accessible genre as some bands who fit this category are just flat out awful (cough Times New Viking cough), but can grown on a person over time.

Anyways, this week’s seal of approval is going to the album “Wavvves” by the group Wavves. The main reason I chose this album was due to the fact that after downloading it purely due to the hype it was getting, I found it to be an enjoyable and accessible (as far as noise pop goes) record.

Wavves is made up of Nathan Williams (guitar/vocals) and touring member Ryan Ulsh (drums I think). The group is from San Diego and has had two releases to date entitled “Wavves” and “Wavvves.” They are currently on a rather extensive tour in Europe and will be touring the US when they return.

On to the review. “Wavvves” was released on Tuesday February 10 on iTunes only. It will be released on CD and vinyl on March 17. Overall, the album has a rather lo-fi sound and is comprised solely of what seems to be guitar, drums, and vocals. Many of the melodies are often quite minimal and almost every song features heavy distortion. Other common themes of the album include frequent “oohs,” “aahs,” and “naahs” in addition to alternating low and high voice vocals (in a call and response type manner).

The album begins with the “Rainbow Everywhere” which is a seemingly experimental track without any vocals that would fit well in a scene taking place in outer space in a movie. Immediately following this, the album picks up when a single distorted guitar and drums lead you into “Beach Demon.” This song (one of the best on the album in my opinion) is rather up-beat and has a catchy melody/chorus (“Going nowhere, going nowhere, going nowhere”). The muffled vocals are kind of hard to understand at parts, but you don’t really need to understand them too much to get the sense of urgency being expressed. “To the Dregs” follows and is another catchy number with a simple melody and simplistic lyrics. After “To the Dregs”, the album changes directions temporarily and slows down a bit with “Sun Opens My Eyes”. This song features some nice harmonies and has some cool drum-work throughout it, chiefly in the intro. About half way through the song, there is a rather haphazard noise solo that is kind of cool, which leads into the remaining half of the song. This part has no vocals and ends very abruptly with two hits of the drum. “Gun In the Sun” is a bit more up-tempo than the previous one, but is still kind of mellow. It also features some nice harmonies and very simple, playful lyrics (“I’m just a guy with nothin’ to say, I’m just a guy with somthin’ to do”). The melody for this song seems kind of surf-rock-esque explaining why Wavves is also classified under the beach punk genre.

“So Bored” begins with the up-tempo pounding of a drum and launches into a vocal pattern of Nathan’s voice singing some lyrics, followed by higher-pitched “aaahs.” This pattern is laid over distorted guitars and complemented nicely by muffled drums in the background. The chorus of this song is also kind of catchy (“I’m so bored, yeah I’m so bored”) and leads nicely into the simple, yet surprisingly clear sounding guitar solo that ends the song quite well. “Goth Girls” has an electronic-sounding intro and is solely made up of droning guitars (no vocals here). It is kind of spacey and one of the albums weirder points, all though I suppose it serves as an alright transition into “No Hope Kids”. This song pretty much follows the same formula as “So Bored” and is also a decent song. Nathan proceeds to slow things down after this song with “Weed Demon”. This may be my favorite song on the album. The guitars are still slightly distorted, but they sound much cleaner than in other songs. The vocals are also really clear and there is no percussion in this song.

The next song “California Goths” begins with an in your face drum part and some ridiculous lyrics (“I’m getting high, to pass the time, no reason why, was my reply”). The drums are much more prominent in this song with frequent use of the crash symbol. The vocals and guitars also are much more distorted than before it seems. “Summer Goth” returns to the surf rock theme mentioned above. About half way through, the drums come in for the first time underneath a surf-rock solo guitar that is layered on top of some noisy guitar work. The remaining few songs return to the lo-fi roots of the album, are somewhat droning, and feature very minimal drum work, with the exception of Wavves (the iTunes bonus track). This upbeat song is super loud and has some of the noisiest guitar work on the album making it a great way to conclude the record.

Although “Wavvves,” may have some weird/experimental/droning songs that are not too interesting and absolutely ludicrous song titles, the majority of the album is pretty solid. It is definitely worth listening and does have some lasting value value. If you like what you hear, come check out Wavves at the Project Lodge on April 4 for a free WUD Music show!

Some songs you may enjoy:

Beach Demon

Weed Demon