Crib Notes

I went to the Wavves show at the Earl and all I got was this crappy iPhone pic

Despite Nathan Williams’ insistence on the phone a couple of weeks back that drummer Zach Hill would not be playing with Wavves when they came through Atlanta, Hill was most definitely holding the sticks last night. The Hella drummer who once broke his hand beating his kit at Echo Lounge several years back still hits with helicopter speed and precision — which makes an unexpectedly brilliant counterpoint to Williams’ loose strumming and ooohhh wwwooo wwwooos.

No, there was no drama at the show, as all parties involved in the Black Lips scuffle from last weekend give off the appearance of having moved on; everyone aside from the meat heads in the audience who pissed and moaned about it after the show.

Precautions had been taken to prevent any sort of incident nonetheless. There was a cop stationed in the parking lot keeping watch over Wavves’ van, and the bartender looked a bit sheepish while pouring bottles of beer into plastic cups saying, “Sorry, but I’m not allowed to serve out any glass bottles tonight because they’re afraid somebody might throw one at one of the bands …”

Really …

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The Sunny Day Real Estate show at Center Stage this Saturday has been sold out for months, but there are plenty of other great shows on which to spend your hard-earned dollars this week. Here’s a list of nine shows going on between tonight and Wed., Oct. 6 that I wholeheartedly endorse, in order of priority.

Of course the smart money is on the Wavves show at the Earl on Sunday night. Recent drama with Black Lips aside, the Wavves  kid puts on a fun show of sweetly damaged California pop melodies ravaged by noise in the most brain-pleasing way. According to singer/guitar player Nathan Williams, the idea behind the group was to create songs that resembled something like Beatles-esque pop filtered through the dissonance of Sonic Youth’s guitar sounds, but due to his lack of skills when it came to recording, the resulting songs more closely resemble something like a mashup of Pavement circa Slanted & Enchanted and the Jesus & Mary Chain circa Psychochandy, wrapped in a Zoloft haze — can’t go wring there. Ganglians and Facehugger open. $10. 8 p.m. Sun., Oct. 4. 404-522-3950. www.badearl.com.

Grizzly Bear needs no introduction, so I won’t waste your time, other than to say that they’re bringing their brand of fey and lofty art pop to Variety Playhouse on Mon., Oct. 5. The show is currently sold out, but keep on eye on the Variety Playhouse’s Twitter page as more tickets are rumored to be made available this week. 8 p.m. Variety Playhouse. 404-524-7354.

Photo by Dale Heise

Tonight Digital Leather plays 529. I’ve yet to hear a recording from this one-time Jay Reatard cohort that I can fully endorse, although word on the street is that the Sorcerer album on Goner is the one to get. Regardless, Digital Leather played 529 a couple of months back and the full-band treatment of what’s mostly the one-man studio project of Omaha resident Shawn Foree, gave sort of a dark, Buzcocks pop edge to these synth-heavy no wave numbers, adding some much needed girth. Thee Crucials and the F’n Heartbreaks open. $7. 9 p.m. 529, 529 Flat Shoals Ave. 404-228-6769.

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MAKING WAVVES: Nathan Williams loves the attention.

As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad press, and Nathan Williams, the guitarist/vocalist behind San Diego’s noise-pop duo Wavves, has learned it’s true. After an onstage temper tantrum at the Primavera Sound Fest in Barcelona last May, Williams became the man that bloggers love to hate. He even took a public lashing from Black Lips singer/bassist Jared Swilley, who suggested he stop playing music altogether. (See more on their ongoing beef.)

“It has legitimately helped,” Williams humbly admits regarding the criticism. “I’m new to this, so it’s a trip to see how these things work.”

Williams’ hissy fit caught the music world’s eye, but his sloppy California pop melodies and distorted coos have kept people’s attention. He is by no means a virtuoso, but his songs are fun, hypermanic, no wave dust devils that unwind in loose, chaotic motion, usually alongside drummer Ryan Ulsh (who will play with Wavves in Atlanta), or more recently Zach Hill of Hella.

Wavves “Cool Jumper” mp3

“Continue reading “Wavves’ Nathan Williams just wants to have fun”

(Photo courtesy Shore Fire Media)

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JARED SWILLEY OF BLACK LIPS

In case you’ve missed the excitement, Buddyhead.com has a pretty entertaining run-down of the ridiculous brawl that came to a head this weekend between Wavves’ manager and Jared Swilley of the Black Lips.

The whole situation is just plain annoying, not to mention Swilley’s comments in the interview reinforce some pretty gnarly, negative stereotypes about southerners. In the interview with Buddyhead, Swilley admits to approaching Nathan Williams of Wavves (whom he has publicly dissed) at Daddy’s Bar in New York and saying, “You’re that faggot from Wavves and I don’t like you!” — sounds like fighting words to me.

Swilley also issued the following warning to Williams: “He’s coming to Atlanta October 3rd [4th] and we’re gonna get ugly on him. We’re gonna destroy their van, we’re gonna destroy their faces, we’re gonna get crazy on em’. Nasty style.”

NATHAN WILLIAMS OF WAVVES

If I were Williams, I would take heed. Truth be told, the Black Lips are like a gang. If you mess with one of them, you mess with all of them, and Atlanta is their turf. Then again, it sounds like the Wavves crew rolls the same way. Looks like Oct. 4 is going to be a legendary night when Wavves plays the Earl.

(Top photo by Chad Radford)
(Bottom photo courtesy Wavves)

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Ecstasy, Valium and Xanax seem to be the new drug cocktail of choice these days. Well, at least for lead singer Nathan Williams of Wavves. Is it any wonder he doesn’t even remember what Pitchfork has called, “the most epic onstage meltdown a band of their small size could conjure“?

In his latest Pitchfork interview, he sets the record straight, sort of:

“I can’t fuck up once? If people think that I’m not going to fuck up, there’s no reason to even come and watch me.”

Note to Nathan: Leave the big boy drugs to Motley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses.

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>>The recent meltdown of lead singer Nathan Williams of Wavves continues to gather commentary from everyone. To refresh your memory, Ohmpark gives an interesting chronicle of the event and aftermath.

A few weeks ago, Wavves had a meltdown on stage at a big music festival in Spain which Pitchfork called “the most epic onstage meltdown a band of their small size could conjure”

>>Last year Matador teamed up with True Panther Sounds record label to help put out Girls’ debut 7″. The band is back at it again with a target release of September 22.

We are proud to announce the September 22 release of the debut full-length from Girls, entitled Album. The record will be released by True Panther Sounds, the label that released Girls’ debut 7?, “Lust For Life,” last year, in conjunction with Matador.

>>Shining Path, the Balkans and the Trashcans show is still creating quite the buzz amongst fans. 7″ Atlanta does a good job describing the show and an even better job of making you feel guilty for missing out.

The Trashcans shared the bill Friday at the Watch Yr Head House with a couple of awesome young bands.

The house is located off Memorial and has a basement in which the bands play and a barn-style garage for chilling in between sets.

>>If I had the money, I still wouldn’t carry a Gucci man-purse — no matter what Crunk and Disorderly says:

Titty Boi and Dolla Boy [collectivly known as Playaz Circle] were two of the more fashionable acts to perform at Birthday Bash this past weekend. And yes, that’s a fork dangling on Dolla’s chest. Tell mama the first thing that comes to your mind.

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1. Spaceships, “Oblivion” and heavy metal? Only in the world of Mastodon. (video via Rolling Stone)

2. Jay-Z’s got 99 problems but Auto-Tune ain’t one — Atlanta rappers beware! (via Spin)

3. Poor Wavves lead Nathan Willams. You know your career is on shaky ground when Jared Swilley of the Black Lips calls you out for being a dick onstage. (via Pitchfork)

4. Danger Mouse refuses to compromise creativity of Dark Night of the Soul, despite dispute with EMI. (via New York Times)

5. Dear Chris Brown, we’re not scared of someone who does Doublemint commercials, we just like Rihanna more than you. (Listen to Brown and rapper Maino’s new, oddly-timed release, “Don’t Be Scared” via Spin)

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