Album Details

• Artist: Wavves
• Album: Afraid Of Heights
• Label: Warner Bros.
• Year of Release: 2013
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: nlathy on 2013-03-26

It's the fourth album, and this band can come up with some good songs.

Nathan Williams sings well enough. The music is catchy some times. Wish there were more times, I found myself excited. It's moderately interesting.

This is one time where a bonus track version is welcome, since "Hippies Is Punks" works, so well.

"Sail to the Sun" is the most successful track on the album. Here the singing and playing is assured. The sound really rocks. The speed is put in a coherent framework, making for great rock 'n' roll.

"Demon To Lean On" qualifies as solid garage rock. Williams achieves a power in his singing here, which shows the immense capability of the group. Its got hook power, recalling the best of the Killers or the Hives. But if this band is going to rival the efforts of those bands or Parquet Courts, it needs to perform at this level on just about every track.

Even on "Demon" Williams can repeat the refrain too often. This is done to grating effect on "Dog" an attempt at pop, yielding mixed results. A guest appearance by Jenny Lewis can't keep the title track from being even less successful.

Some of this sounds better on a second listen. The noise rock offering of "Mystic" is worth revisiting for giving final judgment. The lyrics aren't always golden. This doesn't keep "Paranoid" from rocking.

A good sound is achieved on "Cop." This is a pop-rock sound, which brings to mind Be-Bop Deluxe.

No matter how enamored Williams seems to be with some of his lyrical hooks, he can't salvage everything on here. The title "Everything is My Fault," may tell more about the album and the song's flaws than Williams intended.

The longer songs don't tend to work as well with the exception of "Demon," which clocks in at 4:12.

Pluses are present like the Beach Boys influenced vocals and Ramones sound on the winning "Gimme a Knife." This is more important than the inclusion of tough street talk during the song. But I'm still listening.

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