Wavves at Mohawk Place, Buffalo NY, 9-16-10

Wavves' Nathan Williams has released two albums under the Wavves moniker, the first of which was a solo endeavor that contained a lot of lo-fi, feedback filled noise-pop, if you could even call it that. On close listen, it becomes apparent that beneath all the fuzz, Williams' is capable of crafting some pretty clever melodies, a talent that would surface in a big way on his sophomore effort. In 2010, Wavves added the late Jay Reatard's backing band to his line-up and released King of the Beach, which instantly became the soundtrack to every hipster/stoner/skate/surf-kids summer. On King of the Beach, Williams is still a lonely, self-deprecating, pot-smoking, 20-something with San Diego roots and a punk attitude, this time he just has better production. King of the Beach combines 90's punk with 60's Beach Boys melodies and more than a few ooooo--ahhhs. William's changes it up a bit though, and throws in tracks like Baseball Cards, which echoes more of Panda Bear than anything. Alongside a pack of surf-rock revivalists that have hit the scene in the past couple of years, Wavves has managed to take that vibe and soak it in attitude and experimental-type production, an aesthetic that has proved to be pretty irresistible. Mohawk Place is a VERY small bar/venue that has a pretty relaxed vibe. Mohawk's walls are covered in patron scribbled sharpie-graffiti and hundreds of band stickers, it's stage is small and there is never a shortage of people at the bar, so it's pretty much the ideal place to see a band like Wavves. The set was King of the Beach heavy but they included Wavvves favorites like So Bored and No Hope Kids. The crowd was really intense for such a small venue, and Williams and co seemed to enjoy the excitement. Wavves puts on a great show, but I was a little surprised at how short the set was. They only played for about 35 minutes and didn't include an encore, but despite that relative let-down, Wavves shows are still a damn good time.
(Sorry for the lack of photos , it got pretty rowdy in there.)