by Lizzie Irwin

Self proclaimed King of the Beach and purveyor of all things mean and green, Nathan Williams aka. Wavves has progressed well beyond the days of hazy, lo-fi swelling from the bedroom of his Californian family home since his first two releases. In 2010 King of the Beach saw Nathan tackle shimmery, guitar pop fit with colourful titles such as ‘Mickey Mouse’, ‘Baseball Cards’ and ofcourse, ‘King of the Beach’. Legions of long time Wavves fans were notably angered by such a radio friendly installment to his discography and briefly flirted with some of Nathan’s heavier material when his Life Sux EP saw an internet release in 2012, featuring questionable musical collaborations such as Damian Abraham of hardcore Canadian outfit Fucked Up on the scream worthy ‘Destroy’.

Now, a year later Nathan harks back to his teenage roots with another angst-inspired, self reflective, grunge heavy release ‘Afraid of Heights’ – a title that bodes well with the amount of self-doubt, self-hate and sheer depression prevalent upon listening. Title track ‘Afraid of Heights’ brought with it comparisons with Nirvana’s 1991 ‘Nevermind’ which appropriately catapulted alternative rock into the mainstream and probably existed at a time were a young Nathan Williams was formulating his own ideas about the kind of musicians he desired to emulate. Unfortunately, comparisons with our favourite disturbed rock n’ roller Kurt Cobain bring with them drawn out sighs, but fortunately for Williams the comparison spawns not from a copy-cat effort but come from a place where a moody, Californian teenage boy wore his influences on his sleeve and respectfully implemented them into a stellar fourth release.

Everything relating to the album speaks volumes for the disparate moods created – the cover image alone, a grainy black and white image of a teenage boy with a dodgy homemade cross-tattooed onto his forehead is squirm worthy in a Harmony Korine’s ‘Gummo’ kinda way. Williams also deals with some tedious subject matter such as killing an officer of the law on ‘Cop’, dealing with self doubt in the realm of the opposite sex by yelping “I just want to spend some time with you…or you can beat me up” on ‘Beat Me Up’ furthering his crusade of alcohol fuelled (apparently the whole album was inspired by Nathan’s mental illness and a night of heavy drinking) mental reflection on the adrenaline pumping ‘Gimme A Knife’. The leading man himself admits to feeling extremely paranoid, lacking sleep and getting far too high in the year-long period took to write the 14 tracks.

It’s sad to think that Nathan Williams is still grappling with demons past his infamous breakdown at Primavera’s 2009 Festival in which he spat and yelled at his drummer, forcing him to storm off the stage, leaving Nathan to scream at fans in an introspective and rather selfish drug frenzy. But without this selfish journey of self discovery, one which mostly indicates he’s not a fan of the general population or himself, for that matter…we would be in a constant state of hearing the wishy washy pop sensibilities that were present on ‘King of the Beach’. The emotional lows are incredibly low and that’s the way we like it (but, dude…please see a psychologist).

Sure, we’re subject to the usual repetition that infects most Wavves releases but if you’re a fan of Williams’ personal brand of self loathing, 90s inspired grunge guitars and Jay Reatard alumni Stephen Pope’s pained backing vocals and slinky basslines, then you’re sure to suffer through a continuous plotline of young men pleading for self love over Nirvana inspired hooks.

(Nathan has also been working alongside his brother to produce hip hop beats under the monicker 'Sweet Valley' which you should check out for a positive boost after the intensity of this album.)