Having no investment in the lo-fi noisey pop thing I can’t tell you where the authentic stuff begins and inauthentic stuff ends. Authenticity is a great game for idiots to play but those of us outside of the kiddie pool have a completely different set of needs. Out of the pile of stuff I’ve heard, this is pretty decent, some group on SubPop with a real short name was ok for a bit, and the rest gives an overall impression of “you have to be there to get it”. I don’t get why you’d necessarily bother with this stuff when Lightning Bolt exists, though most would make the case for them being unrelated styles.
Skinny kids + fuzzy guitars + buried pop structure / semblance of hooks = this stuff.
This is a good summer album. By that I mean when you have a barbecue or just friends over to drink beers or take long drives and smoke drugs or whatever your idea of “summer” happens to be – when that “summer” thing happens it needs a good soundtrack to keep time in the background. Later on in the day the drama of our lives will make its own music; before then, you need “summer music” to have a “summery good time”. Chromeo is a good example. If you roll a bit harsher good ole LB counts. Hell, I would toss on later Swans or anything Michael Gira likes. The first Akron/Family LP has backyard cookout potential; Vashti Bunyan and John Fahey make for a lovely summer sit with a lady of tender cares. If you want to push my nostalgia buttons, cue up Grand Puba and related 90s classic rap from when I was in high school. If I’m drunk enough I’ll sing along to the entirety of “2000”.
Anyway, Wavvves (by Wavves) is catchy while being lyrically incomprehensible; short enough to be completely done around the same time the potatoes are, and focused entirely on dumb hooks with short interludes before and after. “So Bored” is the single of note because it’s the only track where the chorus lyrics are immediately apparent, but most of the tracks are possesed of a bouncy, careless spirit; “To The Dregs” has a notable wordless chorus that plays well with the repetitive nature of “You see me / I don’t care” and whatever else he’s singing about. The album is rather monochromatic, with some exceptions – “Sun Opens My Eyes” has a comparatively sparse backing, and “Weed Demon” is acoustic-esque, an obligatory ballad nicely sandwiched by it’s more distorted siblings.
“California Goths” steps it up quite a bit, and to the most powerful effect, being comprised only of hooks and vacant teenage nihilism. And “Beach Goth” is so classically summeresque that it almost hurts.
I don’t know what this year’s summer album is going to be, but (you and) I could do far worse than Wavves.
here there be rodents 
Like a low-rent Jesus & Mary Chain. Instead of playing the Beach Boys beneath Sonic Youth, they’re playing the Archies.
i can see that comparison. dunno about the jamc so much, though; it lacks any real sinister, vaguely rapey undertones.
still, it’s the summer album of the year thus far. riding up the turnpike it matched pretty well. haven’t tried it with actual grilled meats yet.
So you’re saying you prefer your barbeques without vaguely rapey undertones? Do you cook beef instead of pork?
I actually liked WaVVes, even if they kind of remind me of geeky white boys trying to become Shonen Knife.
editif they kind of remind me ofstrike me as geeky white boys
“So you’re saying you prefer your barbeques without vaguely rapey undertones? Do you cook beef instead of pork?”
by and large, yes, beef is superior to pork. ribs being the one obvious exception. but is there anything like a slow cooked london broil, marinated for days in beer and rosemary?
there is not.
i definitely see the shonen knife comparison, but they always felt like a tasteless racist joke to me. sort of like tom wait’s voice.