The Verge: Wavves

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. If I'm weary of ripping off the BBC, I absolutely loathe doing the same to Pitchfork. Anyway, here's a band who has had some blog love for quite a while, but now is actually worth all the hype.


For the last couple of years, Wavves has been a bit of an underground shitshow. Bandleader Nathan Williams rode the Pitchfork hype (no pun intended) from his bedroom to the mainstage. And predictably, everything came crashing down - Behind the Music style - including a drug-addled performance at the 2009 Barcelona Primavera Sound Festival and a drunken brawl with the Black Lips. After some cancelled tour dates, Williams emerged from 2009 with a new backing band: the rhythm section of the late Jay Reatard, another noisy rock sensation with similarly outsized drama.

With that said, Wavves is polarizing. Some find the blog love unwarranted; others are equally turned-off by the dramatics. But with the recent release of King of the Beach, Wavves might turn haters into believers.

The band's last record, Wavvves, was pure noise-pop and not entirely serious; Williams crammed "Goth" into five titles, with gratuitous mentions of California's sun, beach and weed throughout. King of the Beach continues to mine the oh-so-popular surf rock milieu, but with much more focus. If this is to be Williams' Nevermind, Wavvves was his Bleach (a comparison also made elsewhere). And just how moving from a $600 studio session to recording with Butch Vig allowed Nirvana to tighten their compositions and let Kurt's writing shine, the introduction of professional recording into the Wavves sound is what will take them to the next level.

Right off the bat, King of the Beach presents Wavves in a new light: intelligible! The title track finds Williams defiant and cocky, as expected: "You're never gonna stop me (x4) / the king of the beach." Next, "Super Soaker" jumps between the combo of a terrific start-stop rhythm and Williams' falsetto, and a wall-of-noise that sounds like early Jimmy Eat World.

The self-loathing over power chords of "Idiot" ("I'm not supposed to be a kid / but I'm an idiot / I'd say I'm sorry / but it wouldn't mean shit") and the quiet-loud-quiet dynamics of "Green Eyes" are not going to stop the Nirvana comparisons any time soon. Similarly, the rollicking "Post Acid" leads with a blue-era Weezer melody, even if it packs in considerably more feedback and reverb.

For fans of earlier Wavves, the jangly melodies "Baseball Cards" and "Mickey Mouse" should be buried behind sufficient fuzz and effects. "When Will You Come" cops the "Be My Baby" drum line, and its dream pop owes heavily to Phil Spector.

These days, blogs like Pitchfork will make or break your band. For Wavves, the underground community has already done both. Here's hoping everyone can shake hands and move on, because King of the Beach certainly does.

Two years after his death, Def Jux releases Camu Tao's King of Hearts

Camu Tao, born Tero Smith, was a multi-talented performer and member of the Definitive (nee Def) Jux family. Coming up in Columbus, OH in the late 90s, he worked with underground rap pioneers El-P, Aesop Rock, RJD2, and Cage, among others. His "Hold the Floor" was the archetypal Def Jux cut, with a raw, grinding beat and technically sharp, unapologetic rhymes.

Sadly, Camu Tao passed away after a protracted battle with cancer in 2008, a month shy of his 31st birthday. Not only did he leave behind his family, friends and fiance, but he also left behind the songs that were to be his debut solo album, King of Hearts. Luckily, the album is set to be released on August 17 by Definitive Jux and Fat Possum Records.

King of Hearts paints a picture of an artist on the edge of something special. The album's 16 tracks are a bit rough around the edges, as most were demos when Camu passed. Still, King of Hearts finds Camu reinventing himself in the mold of K-OS and Saul Williams, with a unique style that is difficult to pin down. Moving away from the distinct hip-hop of Def Jux to a more Afro-punk sound, Camu is at ease over programmed beats, chiptune synths and crunchy guitar riffs. "Bird Flu" and "When You're Going Down" are dancefloor-ready pieces of electropunk, equal parts mournful and angry: surely the emotions of a man during his last days.

Whether crooning on "Fonny Valentine," political-rapping on "Ind of the World," or swinging on "The Perfect Plan," Camu is sharp, poignant and emotive. The hook for "Plot a Little," a catchy, Neptunes-like sing-along, captures the album's feel: "Rock for a little bit / fly for a little bit / plot for a little bit / make it contagious." Over King of Hearts, the sonic dabblings of the self-described "rebel to conformity" are definitely contagious.

Download Camu Tao - Plot a Little

The music of artists like Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, and Joy Division's Ian Curtis is notable for its posthumous influence. Camu Tao's King of Hearts will probably not have as far a reach, but it will stand as a vibrant final farewell from an artist who obviously had much more to share.

GroundScore parties like it's 1995

DC's GroundScore plays a brand of reggae punk fusion reminiscent of Sublime, 311 and Goldfinger. The trio, consisting of frontman and guitarist Zach Bellas, drummer Chase Lapp and bassist Nick Graves, formed in 2008. A series of jam sessions convinced the band to record an album and hit the road.

Healthy Children, the band's genre-melding debut album, will have you looking for your 40 ounces to freedom and asking "who's got the herb?" The music alternates between laid-back, upstroking jam sessions and frenetic thrash punk. Healthy Children kicks off with two reggae-infused james, "Tattoos & Porn" and "Don't Pay Me," before breaking down into a minute of mosh-pit punk, a pattern that repeats over the 12 song disc.

"Hey Kidz / Real Love" is the album's centerpiece, a 7-minute epic that touches on the album's overarching theme, the ironies of so-called "healthy children" growing up America. It begins with an Offspring-esque blast of energy, before settling into a groove that allows Bellas to pull out a few solos. "You Deserve It" is emblematic of the album as a whole, as the band seamlessly blends its diverse influences into a cohesive sound.

GroundScore isn't reinventing the wheel, but for fans of alternative rock in the mid-90s, Healthy Children is a welcome return of sun-soaked SoCal punk. In true punk style, they will be headlining a show at the Red and Black on Friday the 13th.

For a chance to win an autographed copy of Healthy Children, tell us your favorite mid-90s punk revival song in the comments!

Mixtape Monday: Drag the lake

"Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." Inscription at the Gates of Hell, or another post about drag and witch house? You decide! Today's Mixtape Monday takes us to the darkest reaches of the Internet, with new mixes from Salem and the sick folks behind (the NSFW) Put.A.Spell.

Download Salem - I Buried My Heart Inna Wounded Knee

Salem's I Buried My Heart Inna Wounded Knee is a nearly-unlistenable mix of Goth crunk - and I mean that as a compliment. There's no tracklist, but would one really make a difference? Salem drags and screws tracks until they are barely recognizable ghosts of the originals; mixing in the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale" is brilliant. Salem continues to make the i-dose version of purple drank. Their debut full-length King Night is set for a September 28th release, and this mix should stave off the tremors until then.

Put.a.spell (what I'll be calling the force responsible for these mixes, since they're only labeled with the quintessential witch house symbol ‡) recently released two equally disturbing mixes, Summus Exussum Ervum and Beasts in Drag.

Download ‡ - Summus Exussum Ervum

Summus Exussum Ervum, which roughly translates to "burn the high weeds," touches on everything cold and industrial. From Throbbing Gristle to Fever Ray, the mix is the perfect soundtrack for your next invocation or ritualistic sacrifice. Compared to Salem's mix, it is practically Top 40.

Download ‡ - Beasts in Drag

Beasts in Drag is more crunk than Goth, relying on drag versions of Gucci Mane and Playboy Tre (from the Adult Swim x Beaterator ATL RMX album), among others. As the mix closes, it fades from GR†LLGR†LL's gloomy "Lollipop" cover "Slowlickin" to "If You Are But a Dream," by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, the bluesman best known for "I Put a Spell On You." That inclusion alone shows that the musicians behind drag and witch house have a sense of humor, even if it is sick and twisted.

Luvstep Live at the Mad Decent Block Party

As I walked up 12th Street in Philadelphia on my way to the Mad Decent Block Party, I heard the unmistakable, soothing sounds of luvstep. The set marked the live debut of luvstep, the dubstep subgenre identified by Dirty South Joe and Flufftronix earlier this year on their mix of the same name. It was one of the many can't-miss sets during the day. Luckily for those who missed it, the proverbial tape was running and the set is now available for download.

An introduction from Ten Things I Hate About You sets the tone: melancholic, bittersweet, and teeming with raw emotion. The 30-minute mix kicks off strong with tracks by Sky Ferreira and Nero, before revisiting essential tracks (Caspa's remix of the Deadmau5 & Kaskade collab "I Remember") and dropping new popstep heat (the trio of "Hold On," "I Need Air," and "Katy on a Mission").

"PClart" by Kavsrave has been floating around for a few months; the female vocals and wonky bass are a perfect fit for the mix. The same is true of the "Edge of Seventeen"-sampling "Days Go By" by the Boogaloo Crew (who now are part of Future Grooves featuree Dark Sky). The mix closes with some Don Juan DeMarco:

"There are only four questions of value in life, Don Octavio. What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same: only love."

For dubstep, a genre derided for its harsh sounds and bromantic attitude, only luvstep can save it.

Tracklist for Luvstep Live at the Mad Decent Block Party
Introduction: KATARINA
Sky Ferreira – One (Bar9 Remix)
Nero – Innocence
Deadmau5 – I Remember (Caspa Remix)
Rusko – Hold On (feat Amber Coffman)
Magnetic Man – I Need Air
Katy B – Katy On A Mission
Professor Green ft Lily Allen – Just Be Good To Me (Joker Remix – Fluff’s Greenless Dub)
M83 – We Own The Sky (Udachi Remix)
Kavsrave – PClart
Bobby Caldwell – What You Won’t Do For Love (DZ Remix)
Guido – Mad Sax
The Boogaloo Crew – Days Go By
The Living Graham Bond – Winter Hunter ft Fiona Bevan (Bare Noize Remix)
Epilogue: DON JUAN

More Moombahma from David Heartbreak

David Heartbreak is at it again. Fresh off an appearance on the Summer of Moombahton compilation and his TGRI-exclusive Culipandeo mix, Heartbreak has released the Dos Moombahma EP, another collection of genre-expanding moombahton.

Download David Heartbreak's Dos Moombahma EP

In a nod to the origins of the genre, Heartbreak twists Kid Kaio's Dutch house "Hey" into a 108 BPM banger. The build and simple chant-along vocals make this one a club keeper.

Like he did on "Whistle Blower," Heartbreak takes crunk 1,000 miles south on "Salt Shaker," his edit of the the classic Ying Yang Twins party anthem. Elsewhere on the EP, he experiments with moombahcore ("Lend Ya Down"), a grimey offshoot of moombahton, and classic dancehall ("Raggamuffin"). For fans of chilled-out lounge sounds, "Novinah" is the perfect mood setter, based on a sample of Drake's "Successful."

David Heartbreak continues to be a producer to watch. The Charlotte DJ has a good ear for hooks and samples that fit the moombahton sound, and he continues to move the genre forward with his melting pot approach to the genre.

Lil' Elle's "All A Dream" mixtape

DJ Lil' Elle is back with another hour-long mix entitled "All A Dream." As the cover art suggests, the 20-odd songs here hint at summer days passed - appropriate as August flies off the calendar. Elle mixes Top 40-friendly dance tracks with throwback and underground hip-hop with ease. You can see how she's secured weekly parties at Science Club and Policy (in addition to the monthly KIDS party): Lil' Elle's understanding of song selection is bar none.

Highlights include in-the-know favorites "We No Speak Americano" and "Sex Sax" alongside classics by Stevie Wonder and Andre 3000. Grab this mix and catch Lil' Elle at her DC gigs before she heads westward.

Download Lil' Elle's "All A Dream" August 2010 Mix

Tracklist after the jump.