'Life Sux' is noisy, rambunctious fun.
Wavves - Life Sux EP (2011) - 7.5 / 10.0
Ghost Ramp
Nathan Williams made the choice to favor melody over mayhem on 2010's King of the Beach. His self-titled debut was unlistenable at times -- its squealing distortion is my favorite thing right behind bashing my thumb with a hammer, so Williams' choice to start making his music pleasant on the ears made me happy. Melody wasn't the only thing that helped King of the Beach become one of the more memorable releases of 2010 -- the songs were actually good too. The Life Sux EP is the follow-up to Wavves' 2010 album, and it's the first to arrive via Williams' label Ghost Ramp. As you can guess, Williams is coming out guns blazin' by scoring cameos from Fucked Up's Damian Abraham and Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino (Williams' longtime girlfriend).
While one of those collaborations is good, they're not better than when Wavves is just Wavves. Keeping King of the Beach's more accessible sound, Life Sux gets off to an impressive start with enjoyable rockers "Bug" and "I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl". "Bug" is about an unruly person that enjoys trashing things, and it could be a personal reflection from Williams' regarding his storied bad behavior of destroying hotel rooms and freaking out in public. Maybe that explains his admiration and desire to become Dave Grohl in "I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl", the EP's best song with its catchy surf jingle. Though the song title doesn't suggest the idea, Williams ends the song singing, I wanna be Dave Grohl repeatedly while the music ends as a fuzzy froth going down a drain. If Williams were Grohl, his actions would seem like normal behavior rather than minor lunacy.
The rest of Life Sux is hit or miss. "Poor Lenore" is rich with '90s grunge ethos, sounding like Nirvana and L7, but I wouldn't quite compare Williams to Cobain since he uses melody rather than raspy rage when singing. "Nodding Off" is the track featuring Williams' girlfriend Bethany Cosentino. She gives the track some oohs and ahhs and joins Williams in the chorus as they sing about a relationship nodding off. Damian Abraham's appearance is used for his trademark growl on "Destroy", but the song is mostly forgettable. Ending the EP is a "live" track, though it sounds recorded live in a studio rather than before an audience. Strangely enough, the live setting doesn't add any intensity to the performance, and it comes across kind of vanilla.
Life Sux is another good showing by Nathan Williams. If you're a Wavves fan, then you definitely need to pick it up. Life Sux is noisy, rambunctious fun, but Wavves continue becoming more accessible in comparison to their heavily distorted self-titled debut.
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