King of the Beach

VINYL FORMAT. 'Wavves returns with a new album this summer. After all the fuss of the last couple of years, it's great to see Nathan Williams and co. getting back to showing us the fruits of his studio work. The album is called King of the Beach . . . Unlike Wavves' previously released material, recorded in haphazard bursts on Williams' laptop, King of the Beach was toiled over for three months at Sweet Tea Recording, a world-renowned studio in Oxford, Mississippi. Sweet Tea is also the home of Dennis Herring, producer of the last two Modest Mouse albums, and the man who dismantled and re-assembled the sound on this record. "There was a conscious effort going into this that I didn't want to make the same record again. I already made the same record twice, with the same fucking cover art," says Williams. "It wasn't overbearing, but I didn't want to recreate something I'd done. I wanted to make something bigger, something stronger." Although you may think King of the Beach is somewhat appropriately titled, Williams says the album name isn't meant to be ironic or a self-deprecating joke. It's a declaration. "Without sounding cheesy, we all wanted to make something inspiring," says Williams. "It's the type of thing where you have this much, but you could have more, so go get it." We get the feeling this is going to be one hell of a comeback album.' - Gavin Riley / Strange Glue