Album Review: Wavves - Afraid Of Heights

Surf punk duo Wavves, the brainchild of Nathan Williams and Stephen Pope, have returned with their first release since 2011's mini-album Life Sux. Similar to their previous releases, their fourth studio album, Afraid Of Heights, is a frenzy of infectious jingles and manic ramblings that swing between paranoia, depression and general pissy-ness.

The first two tracks, Sail To The Sun and Demon To Lean On, are pretty excellent, and there's a lot more furore than you'd expect from the guys, with the inclusion of a xylophone really pleasing to the ear. Wavves are sounding a little more conventional and a lot more polished, and it leads you to believe that maybe they've produced something that isn't all 'woe is me'. But that illusion is dashed pretty soon after with songs like Lunge Fwd, Paranoid and title track Afraid Of Heights; Williams laments that “none of you understand me” and “I'll always be on my own”. Cop, however, is really fresh. The subject matter is still grave but it is nice to know that Williams can produce really great tracks that aren't solely focused on his own melancholia (see: Everything Is My Fault).

Afraid Of Heights is arguably Wavves' most sophisticated offering to date, but it could also be their most divisive. It's the kind of album you can love and hate at the same time, which is actually quite fitting considering the tracks seem fraught with mania. You can't deny that it's really catchy and easy to listen to, but it does make you wonder, four albums down, surely Williams must be running out of things to whine about.