When they released the frenetic King of the Beach in 2010, which wasn’t their first album but was the work that put them on the musical map, Wavves were pure zeitgeist. Black Lips had, like big brothers, paved the way for a whole generation of wild punk bands, Pitchfork was looking for any excuse to talk about No Age and Harlem, Vice had its own label for releasing youthful rock that struck just the right balance between fun and danger, and Jay Reatard had risen to mythical status after his death. The shockwave from all of this even reached us here in Spain, with Mujeres and The Parrots spreading the word about garage rock in Barcelona and Madrid, respectively. In this context, Wavves were self explanatory: Nathan Williams’ project was undoubtedly a child of its time.
Fifteen years later, not only has the scene around Wavves changed, but so has the spirit of the band itself. It’s a fact of life: from that post-adolescent punk to the power-pop maturity that comes together on Spun, their new album, the first they’ve released since 2021. Wavves’ new album Spun is out now and arrives with a music video for the Travis Barker-produced track “Way Down.” Led by singles such as “Goner,” the Nathan Williams and Stephen Pope co-write, “Lucky Stars,” and fan favorite “Spun,” the new record marks a confident return to the radio-ready alt-rock anthems that defined their 2013 breakout, Afraid of Heights. These songs are loud, lean, and built for volume. Spun leans hard into the band’s melodic instincts, delivering a tracklist full of hooks that stick and choruses that beg to be blasted. It’s a sharpened evolution of the sound that first put Wavves on the map: catchy, cathartic, and unapologetically big.
