On Friday, May 19, San Diego noise pop export Wavves released their new album, “You’re Welcome.” Thank you.
Brimming with hooks and the fuzzy energy of youth, the album is a dense display of sonic layers and textures. Each song feels like biting into a miniature chocolate-wrapped candy bar of nuggat-loaded splendor.
“Over half the songs were built off samples,” bassist Stephen Pope explained to me over the phone earlier this month. “We spent all of last year working on and off on the record.”
Pope and frontman Nathan Williams reunited with producer Dennis Herring in Los Angeles to make “You’re Welcome” come to fruition. Herring also produced their 2010 album, “King of the Beach.”
Pope and Williams met just a year before the release of “King of the Beach” following the now infamous Wavves performance at Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona. Pope was there playing with Jay Reatard, but he still managed to catch Williams’ performance.
“I thought it went fine, but I was really f----- up,” he said. “I went backstage and went up to him and said, ‘Great show, I love your stuff.’ I think he thought I was making fun of him or something.”
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Nonetheless, the two fast became friends, and Pope joined Wavves a couple of months later.
This spring, the band joined blink-182 on their tour before splitting off for their own headlining tour -- “It was awesome; we just finished that portion. We did like three weeks with them, mostly playing small towns. All the shows were packed, and people were very excited,” Pope said.
On Thursday, June 1, Wavves headline the Irenic, and it’s sure to be a wild homecoming show. If there’s one thing that can be said about the band, it’s that they’re passionate and unpredictable. And that’s a recipe for a memorable performance.
Rutger Rosenborg was almost a Stanford neuroscientist before he formed Ed Ghost Tucker. He now plays in the Lulls and makes music on his own when he's not writing. Follow his updates on Facebook or contact him directly.
