Nu Rave Brain Wave

From Fader comes a ‘documentary’ on Wavves which is actually like a 7 minute interview that ends with the camera just literally looking away from Nathan and the band. I think it’s kind of meant to show that he’s just a kid playing music and fucking around, but it kinda comes off like he’s a prick but I guess, who cares, really if you like the music? And I do, but stilllll, maybe keep this shit in? I dunno.

Damn, there is a lot of Good Stuff going on tomorrow!

Option #1:

(lol look at that cat)

Harlem at Spaceland. We’ve been listening to these guys a ton lately, their music is catchy as hell and a little bit sassy, aka right up our alley.

Option #2:

Damn, there’s a lot going on here. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, we LUV Best Coast, Wavves are pretty cool, Andy Milonakis? Umm, weird, but okay. This one is 21+ but FREE with RSVP here: rsvp@mishkanyc.com

Option #3:

Lastly, if you feel like making the trek out to Orange County and if you like old fart bands–and I say this with affection, i LOVE old fart bands, The Damned and Buzzcocks are playing the Musink Tattoo Festival.

I am torn. TORN! I need a time turner a la Hermione Granger.

Just another night down at Audio for me, I feel like I’m there about once a week these days, but it’s probably the best little club in Brighton, so I don’t really mind. The opening band were absolute shit. Avoid Teen Sheikhs, if you are able to. Normally, I hate trashing bands, I really do! There’s nothing worse than bad music and having to talk about bad music makes my soul even more sad to relive it than actually hearing it the once, but seriously, avoid Teen Sheikhs. I listened to their music on myspace, and I actually made the effort to get down early to see them play and described their music to a person I knew as a ‘watered down Wavves’. How wrong I was. Their music was all over the place – the drummer had no idea what was going on, the guitar was loud but not in a good way, nothing going on, the vocals were terrible and grating… just all around terrible.

But then! Wavves! I was really stoked to see Wavves because … well, as we all know a lot happened to the kid since I saw him last in April…. The breakdown, the firing of the first drummer guy, the new songs with Zach Hill etc. But I was in for a really weird surprise. Instead of Zach Hill, Jay Reatards former bandmates joined Nathan onstage. He said that three days before they were supposed to leave, Zach broke his hand (or something) and couldn’t go on the tour. Luckily, Stephen Pope (Jay Reatard’s former bassist/fro) and Billy Hayes (Reatard’s former drummer/oddball) were able to fill in and while they were totally rough around the edges, they’d only had one gig and two practices or something like that.

Was this a good gig? Yes and no. No because, well, they were way too unprepared – they couldn’t play some of the songs that people wanted to hear (Mickey Mouse, as suggested by some guy; Weed Demon, as suggested by me) due to the fact that they didn’t know the drums or whatever. But, the redeeming thing about it all was the fact that Nathan just didn’t give a fuck. They played 7 songs. 7 songs for 8 quid. Doesn’t seem like a good bargain, but were the 7 songs good? Hell yeah. Nathan was really on form – the songs were loud and reverby and well, the way they are supposed to be. He was really rocking out – tossing his head the way that he does, but un-fucking-fortunately, nobody else was. It was the tamest Wavves gig I’d ever seen. How anybody can watch Stephen Pope’s fro jump around and see his ridiculous faces, and not jump around and push people, well I don’t know but the hipsters of Brighton certainly do. So it was rough andhad a few stops and starts – but that’s exactly Wavves ethos, and what made me and so many other people love him in the first place. So, short set, lame crowd but yet I still walked out of the gig saying that it was good and I would see him again. Yes, I would. 7/10

View the rest of my Wavves pictures over at my FLICKR.

DOWNLOAD -> MICKEY MOUSE by WAVVES

Friends, don’t forget that NRBW’s favorite Exctasy/Valium spastic, WAVVES, is playing again in Brighton. I say the above with love, no really. I’m excited to see Wavves new incarnation with Zach Hill manning the drums. Wavves was really excellent last time I saw him in April at the Echo, and I fully expect him to rock the shit out of Audio, even if he still has a cast on. Supporting him are a little band called TEEN SHEIKHS who have some songs on myspace that seem like they’re really going to complement Wavves. You know, bro.fi, or lo.fi, or garagey, or glo.fi – whatever it’s called when its noisy with grating (but great!) vocals and a DIY aesthetic. Check ‘em out.

You can still purchase tickets at:
Rounder Records Brighton
Resident Records Brighton
Ticketweb

£8 advance / £10 on the door

Download -> TO THE DREGS/HORSE SHOLES by WAVVES (Daytrotter Session)
Download ->HULA HOOP by WAVVES (Daytrotter Session

November
16 London
17 Brighton Audio
18 Oxford Jericho Tavern
19 Bristol Thekla
20 Nottingham The Social
21 Liverpool Korova
22 Glasgow King Tuts
23 Leeds Brudnell Social Club
25 Manchester Deaf Institute
26 London
27 Belgium Gent Charltan
29 Holland Utrecht Ekko
30 Germany Koln Luxor

December
1 Germany Hamburg Prinzebar
2 Sweden Malmo Debaser
3 Denmark Copenhagen Loppen
4 Norway Oslo Garage Small Room
5 Sweden Gothenberg Vasagaten
6 Sweden Stockholm Debaser
8 Germany Berlin Bang Bang Club
9 Germany Dresden Beatpol
10 Germany Munich Babalu
11 Switzerland Bern @ISC
12 Switzerland Basel @Hirscheneck
13 France Paris Club Folamour
14 France Lyons Grrrd Zero
15 France Bordeaux St Ex
16 Spain Barcelona tba
17 Spain Madrid tba
18 Spain Bilboa tba
19 Portugal Lisbon tba

Woah. Wavves has had a busy year. He’s released an album, he’s taken SXSW, he’s had a meltdown in Barcelona, he’s been the new thing, he’s been the old thing, and he’s still writing music! Amazing. I think he has a little more durability than people are giving him credit for.

mp3 | COOL JUMPER by WAVVES

After announcing that he was cancelling his Thursday show at the Smell (and really fucking breaking my heart) he released this new song which has a working title of ‘Mickey Mouse’ which may be released in the future or not, he wasn’t really specific but he wanted to release it. It’s one of the ones that’s hes working on for his forthcoming 3rd LP, whenever that may be. However, I think it’s really good. The first listen, I was a little turned off by the length and the intro, but a couple of listens in and I’m already single along and getting really into it. I still think it capitalizes on a certain sense of nostalgia and sunshine that I like so much about his other songs, but it’s different and definitely new. I think it’s a grower, and I am really into it.

mp3 | MICKEY MOUSE by WAVVES

AYE DOGS AYE,
I’M NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO PLA Y THE LA SHOW BC I HAVE SURGERY ON THE 22ND TO PUT SCREWS IN MY WRIST. BUMMER! ANYWAYS, ILL BE BACK THROUGH LA SOON I PROMISE BUT UNTIL THEN HERE’S A FREE NEW SONG. DOWNLOAD IT AT ghostramp.blogspot.com

loser. JUST KIDDING!

We here at Nu Rave Brain Wave are happy to introduce our top 5 albums of the first half of 2009. It’s been a crazy year for music. My first concert of the year was in Brighton. We travelled to Austin in March for Psych Fest and SXSW. In April, I went to NYC for some shows… I’ve heard a lot of amazing music and I now am proud to countdown my top 5 albums so far of this great year in music.

5. Wavves by Wavves – I realize that after his meltdown at Primavera Sound, and Pitchfork’s subsequent coverage, Wavves kind of imploded on themselves. I also realize this is why it is such a controversial choice. However, when you strip away the hype, the blogs, AND the fact that he may well be a jerk, I think Wavves are pretty great. Great in an accidental way, I mean. As someone who has grown up in California, I think that his record just has all the awkward/wonderful moments about youth, and just feels very nostalgic and like sunshine of living in So.Cal.  I also really just enjoy the organic-ness of the record, the lo-fi, the Garage-band quality to it all – it just feels very natural. And Weed Demon is a great song.

DOWNLOAD -> WEED DEMON by WAVVES

4. Primary Colours by the Horrors - The Horrors are everybody’s favorite reinvention. They shunned the NME-hype scene and locked themselves into a room and created a damn good record. People may criticize it it for overtly wearing it’s influences on its sleeve, but I don’t give a fuck. It’s a good record. Not only are the songs great, but they translate incredibly live. “Three Decades” is fantastic. Somebody, somewhere put Tom and Rhys in charge and it worked out fantastically for them.

DOWNLOAD -> THREE DECADES by THE HORRORS

3. Hey Everyone by Dananananaykroyd - I have never hid my love for Dananananaykroyd. I literally love everything about their band. They’ve got an amazing ethos about them, and I think they have, collectively, an amazing sense of humor. The re-recordings of the songs added something totally new and fresh to them, and the brand new songs blew me away. “Some Dresses” is my favorite song and has been since March of 2008, it’s hilarious and really fucks with the typical son structure. “Black Wax” is one of my top songs of this summer, it’s great to yell along to on a sunny day. I won’t even go into how epic they are live and how everybody in the world needs to experience a wall of cuddles.

DOWNLOAD -> BLACK WAX by DANANANANAYKROYD

2. Primitive World by Littl’ans -I wasn’t sure whether to put this album on my list, but I think it deserves the praise I’m about to give it. Although it came out in the UK in 2008, and I’ve had it forever, it just came out in the US this year. I think Littl’ans are a very special band. They just have the ability to span so many emotions so eloquently in such a short period of time. They’ve got the melodic, romantic thing going for them quite well, and I think depending on your mood it can be a joyful record in some places and very morose in others. Lyrically, it’s a masterpiece. The songs are amazing live and the only two b-sides I’ve heard off this album are top quality as well. In one word, this album is ‘sublime’.

DOWNLOAD -> DON’T CALL IT LOVE (ACOUSTIC DEMO) by LITTL’ANS

1. Strange Boys & Girls Club by The Strange Boys – How can I put this? I think the Strange Boys are incredibly brilliant. Like, I really can’t articulate how much I love their music and think they are the way forward. Yes, they do throw-back to the old blues style, they throw a little Texas charm into the music, but I really think its thoroughly modern. Yes, they do, technically, garage-rock, but they also delve a little into psych music, too. I guess they’re renaissance men of the best genres of music. I love Ryan’s dying-cat-wails, I love the guitar freak outs, I love the heavy, thumping bass. It’s angular, it’s melodic – this album honestly has it all. And live, they are even better, if that is even possible. This album is a 10/10.

DOWNLOAD -> A MAN YOU’VE NEVER KNOWN by THE STRANGE BOYS

Honorable/Obligatory Mention:
200 Million Thousand by Black Lips - Black Lips have the most control over their chaotic madness and I think it comes out a little restrained compared to what we’ve gotten used to expecting from them. It’s a good mix of the whirlwind of “Let it Bloom” (a true classic) and the sensible, accessible “Good Bad Not Evil”. But, I do think ’200 Million Thousand Bajillion’ is the least accessible of their material, save the first album where they literally couldn’t play instruments.

Almost everyone has heard about the weird little meltdown that Nathan Williams had at Primavera Soud festival that took place this weekend in Barcelona. The storyline definitely had an arc and if you need to catch up here you go:

Problem: According to Pitchfork, “Still unsatisfied more than 15 minutes into their scheduled 2:20 a.m. set time, Nathan finally succumbed to shouts from the restless crowd and began lifelessly strumming his guitar in what appeared to be totally random chord progressions. As drummer Ryan struggled in vain to find a tempo for Nathan’s seasick improvisation, the music slowly turned into a half-speed, instrumental approximation of the Wavves ballad “Weed Demon”– a song which, on record, doesn’t have a drum part.

After five minutes of directionless strumming and arbitrary snare hits, Nathan dodged the evening’s first bottle and decided to wind the aimless tune to an abrupt close. Then, rubbing his hands against his face, he declared in annoyed resignation, “All right, hi everybody, we’re Wavves,” and launched into an off-key version of “Summer Goth.” The band’s playing improved steadily until hitting a sort-of stride with a sloppy rendition of the song everyone had come to see, “So Bored”. For a brief moment, the crowd was rapt, singing and pogoing along, earning the band a fleeting moment of goodwill.

But things declined quickly from there, as between songs, Nathan began ineptly mocking the crowd (“Ooooooh, I’m on ecstasy!”), going off at length about his preference for California over Spain, and eventually telling them the festival was “one of the coolest things we’ve been part of in a while,” dripping with sarcasm. Finally, fed up with Nathan’s petulant behavior, Ryan ran out from behind his drumkit and poured a full cup of beer over Nathan’s head. The act would be met with their most enthusiastic applause of the evening.

At 3:00 a.m. sharp, having dodged their share of bottles and even a shoe (neither Nathan nor Ryan was hit, although Nathan likely made impact with some unlucky attendee upon forcefully returning the latter object back to the crowd), the show mercifully came to a screeching halt: Ryan ran offstage, throwing his drumsticks at Nathan. Infuriated, Nathan screamed into the mic, “Come back here, motherfucker, we’re not done yet!” Immediately, stage crew appeared, breaking down Ryan’s kit. “Fuck!” Nathan shouted, “Stop doing that!” They didn’t, so Nathan decided the show must go on. Helplessly, he strummed his guitar again, clearly intent on playing another song. But as he stepped back to the mic, he realized it had been cut. As the crowd booed, the house lights came up, and a defeated Nathan Williams threw his hands up and left, along with the few remaining attendees.”

Further Complication: “A day after spectacularly melting down onstage at Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival, Cali noise-poppers Wavves have canceled tonight’s show, at Lisbon’s ZBD Gallery. Reportedly, the venue posted word of the cancellation just one hour before the show was set to begin. The venue’s announcement of the cancellation is in Portuguese, but Babelfish tells us that “health reasons of the vocalist” are to blame.

Pitchfork’s Ryan Schreiber, who is currently at the Primavera Festival, reports that Wavves missed their flight from Spain to Portugal. The band’s reps have yet to comment.”

Explanation: from Wavves’ blog, “I think in the back of my head I knew I wasn’t exactly mentally healthy enough to continue to tour the way I have been since February. Honest truth is this has all happened so fast and I feel like the weight of it has been building for months now with what seems like a never ending touring and press schedule which includes absolutely zero time to myself. I’m sorry to everyone who has put effort into this and to everyone who supported me. Mixing ecstasy valium and xanax before having to play in front of thousands of people was one of the more poor decisions I’ve made(duh) and I realize my drinking has been a problem now for a good period of time. Nothing else I can do but apologize to everyone that has been affected by my poor decision making. I made a mistake. Not the first mistake I’ve made and it for sure wont be the last. I’m human. Don’t know why I chose the biggest platform I could imagine to lose my shit, but that’s life. You live and you learn.”

Whatever will become of his mammoth EU tour?
05-30 Vigo, Spain – Mondon
06-01 Porto, Portugal – Rio
06-02 Bordeaux, France – Saint-Ex
06-03 Paris, France – Point Ephmere
06-04 Basel, Switzerland – Hirscheneck
06-05 Lausanne, Switzerland – Buzz Club
06-06 Milan, Italy – Vitamin C Days Closing Party
06-07 Munich, Germany – Babalu
06-08 Nuremberg, Germany – K4
06-10 Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser
06-11 Oslo, Norway – Garage Bar
06-12 Gothenburg, Sweden – Vasagatan
06-13 Malmo, Sweden – Debaser
06-14 Copenhagen, Denmark – Loppen
06-15 Hamburg, Germany – Molotow
06-16 Berlin, Germany – Festaal Kreuzberg
06-17 Cologne, Germany – Tsunami
06-18 Utrecht, Netherlands – Ekko
06-19 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
06-21 Oxford, England – Jericho Tavern
06-22 London, England – Luminere
06-23 Bristol, England – Cooler
06-24 Manchester, England – Deaf Institute
06-25 Glasgow, Scotland – Captains
06-26 Leeds, England – Cockpit
06-27 Cardiff, Wales – Clwb Ifor Bach
06-28 Nottingham, England – The Social
07-03 Roskilde, Denmark – Roskilde Festival
07-15 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom *
07-18 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival