It’s apparent 45 seconds into lead-off track “Sail to the Sun” that Afraid of Heights, the latest record from surf-rockers Wavves, is sunkissed and spontaneous. After the album starts with a strange chime sequence, it barrels right into a late-90s punk jam. I don’t know if Nathan Williams (vocals/guitar) has a copy of Green Day’s Dookie permanently jammed in his stereo, but after listening to Heights, I wouldn’t put it past him.
Wavves is from Santa Monica, but Heights is just as full of shameless self-loathing as it is California love. “Demon to Lean On” plays straight from a surf-rock blueprint but the lyrics suggest psychoanalysis.
“None of you will ever understand me,” Williams laments on “Lunge Forward.” The entire album reeks of teen angst and skate-punk, but its lo-fi production sets it apart from soundalikes. “Dog” is a stab at R.E.M.-grade jangle pop, complete with a noodling string section. It’s not as contrived as it could be, but when it’s followed by the Weezer-esque, diary-entry honest title track, it’s as hokey as that school down in Blacksburg.
Surf-rock is the name of the game on Heights, but many of the songs seem to blend together without distinction. “Paranoid” is a fast-paced anthem for fast times, with the same chords and cockiness as some of the record’s earlier cuts. “Cop” revisits the earnest instrumentals of an earlier time — the bass wobbles and crunches, the tinkly keys give way to barbershop-quartet whistles and the harmonies are grade-A goo. “Beat Me Up” continues this theme, and could have fit on the jukebox of a 1980s film.
The album changes pace with“Everything Is My Fault,” which borrows sensibilities from MGMT’s earlier work — a midtempo confessional where the vocals linger quietly behind a wall of wailing noise. “That’s On Me” gets back on track with the summer-conscious lines “Do what your brain says / Say what you like” and a catchy, self-aware chorus. “Gimme a Knife” at first listen is a really earnest stab at a Misfits tribute song, with its Halloween-time lyrics and spacey atmosphere, but it retains the indefatigable love for the beach.
In short, Afraid of Heights has a musical one-track mind, but with summer vacation visibly on the horizon, who can blame Wavves for a relentlessly noble effort to start the party early?
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