Now for those who don't know, Spirit Club is the side project of Wavves' Nathan Williams. Now, I've been a fan of Nathan's work for years, I even enjoyed "Afraid of Heights" when most hardcore Wavves fans bashed the band's grungier sound. But I have to be honest, Wavves' output since has been more hit and miss for me, mostly miss. First, there was the insanely boring "V" album, and "No Life For Me" with Cloud Nothings was solid, but it should have been much more in depth. That all being said, Wavves need a little reboot, and a side project from Nathan could really do some great things. So lets talk about Spirit Club's new album, "Slouch".
The album starts off with “Fast Ice Intro”, which sounds bizarrely close to the intro of Wavves’ “Afraid of Heights” album. Theres really not too much to report here, except for an excess of Beach Boy worship. For the most part the harmonies are on point so it’s really hard to be pissed at this short, mostly instrumental intro, I just wish this went a little further. Then, Spirit Club burst into the peppy “Fast Ice”. For the most part, Spirit Club have taken everything semi-pop sounding about Wavves and using that to create a new sound. Like Wavves, there is plenty of scratchy guitar, but the production on tracks like these are much more inviting. But that’s about where the similarities end, you can’t really compare this to Wavves at all, this is a totally different entity. On “Fast Ice”, the harmonies continue to be on point, and Nathan Williams can still write catchy hooks. However, it’s really the little things here and there that make “Fast Ice” so enjoyable, like the dual keyboards and the constantly plinking keyboards in the background. Lyrically, there really isn’t anything that memorable, but everything else is sweet and pleasant on the ears, it’s a solid single. Up next, we have “Your Eyes Tell Lies”. Right off the bat you realize that a whole lot of these tracks have a super airy feel to them, but this one almost has a new wave feel as well. “Your Eyes Tell Lies” is much sower of a track, and it has a whole lot less tricks to fall back on, this track is all about Nathan Williams. Now, while I enjoy “Your Eyes Tell Lies”, this is the real start of tracks that are seriously going to alienate Wavves fans, most notably on the chorus. Wavves since their beginning of their career have always tipped their hat into the Surf Rock field, but it’s always been only slightly. “Your Eyes Tell Lies” on the other hand is blatant Beach Boys worship, which they pull off nicely and all, but it’s so far from the distorted scratchy garage rock that got them famous. I kinda dig this track though, as goofy as it gets occasionally, but there are going to be plenty of Nathan Williams fans who will instantly thick this new sound is garbage. Once we get back to the verse and Williams gets back into his comfort zone his fans may get more invested. As far as the verses go, Williams sounds just as hip as ever. Call me crazy though, I really enjoy “Your Eyes Tell Lies”, it’s just so cheery and I can’t say no to that. Sadly though, so many of these tracks don’t work nearly as much. Take for example “Room To Run”. This track starts off with some chilly synths which I can handle, but when it comes to these lyrics, oh boy. The lyrics certainly here have taken a huge turn for the cheesy on “Room To Run”. But to be honest, for what it’s worth it still kinda sorta works a little since they’re going for a more pop driven sound, there’s almost an innocence to this track that you don’t hear anymore. Not only have they brought out all of the surf references ever on this album, but oh boy they’ve started tipping their hat into Doo Wop too. “Room To Run” is a mess, the verses here are boring as sin which thankfully is picked up a little by a solid chorus. The chorus at the very least has a slick groove to it that Spirit Club really pull off. If the rest of this track followed that same groove, this would have been so much better. While some of the verses have potential, Spirit Club just wear their influences on their shoulder way too much. They have a really catchy sound, and they can pull it off so well, they just need to write more original sounding material for the most part. And it’s such a shame, because the last few bars or so of “Room To Run” are absolutely killer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z56iA0lFQsk
A few tracks later we have “That’s My Curse”, and seriously I don’t think it’s ever gotten more cliche then to be going for a more surf rock sound and incorporating ocean sound effects. This is by far the dreamiest thing I’ve heard on the entire album. There are some pleasant sounding keys occasionally, and the ocean sounds do go nicely with everything. However, these are some of the lease enjoyable vocals I’ve heard yet. Spirit Club as this album goes on sound more and more like they’re trying to write their own “Pet Sounds”, and at this point it’s just getting aggravating. Yes, they have the basic formula down, but it’s so blatant and obvious that all the magic is sucked right out of tracks like this. Instrumentally “That’s My Curse” has a lot o warm moments, but everything else is just a not interesting at all. On “Lately I Haven’t Been Sleeping”, I honestly have high hopes from the intro. Here, it sounds like Spirit Club are back to a poppier, more upbeat sound which suits them wonderfully. But as soon as the verse hits we’re treated to some of the blandest vocals we’ve gotten so far. These tracks aren’t necessarily completely unlistenable, all the elements Spirit Club are aiming for are indeed present, they’re just missing their target. One thing I have to say is that the boys are going for way too much of a pop sound. What made earlier tracks on the album interesting was the blend of pop harmonies with their more scratchy guitars and such, something I can’t say I’ve heard since the intro of the album. Yes, the music of Spirit Club sounds inventive and interesting from far, but upon further investigation man oh man is it empty. On “Needful Things” Spirit Club continue to make me cringe at every point possible by going for a straight Doo-Wop sound. While clearly they CAN pull this off under the right circumstances, “Needful Things” just comes off as awkward as hell. They seriously need to write come more original material now that they know that clearly they have the basics down. They proved earlier with tracks like “Fast Ice” that there is no reason that they can’t make these tracks heavier while still going for this Surf Pop sound, so why they’ve drifted away so quickly is bizarre to me. The harmonies work and all, but everything else about “Needful Things” is just obnoxious. Then we have the puzzling, acoustic (Oh Boy) “I’m In Heaven”. Once again there are a lot of really nice elements here, but everything else just comes off as awkward. An acoustic track out of a Nathan Williams project would have worried me enough, but now Spirit Club are trying to bring in all the elements they’ve been toying with the entire album as well, it’s absolutely head scratching. And while the psychedelic tinged atmosphere is a nice addition, these lyrics are beyond laughable. Once again there are so many good elements on tracks like “I’m In Heaven”, they just need to hunker down on some more original sounding material.
So many of these tracks here more or less sound like incomplete thoughts to be perfectly honest, take for example "Metal Dream", which gets my hopes up with these nice fuzzy guitars for an intro. This track though only sticks around for about 2 minutes. It's a nice break from everything else going on here, but it just doesn't go far enough with it. However, some of "Slouch"'s later moments are actually some of the better ones. "Broken Link" actually have some bite to it. Right off the bat, "Broken Link" is ushered in with a solid riff for the boys to fall back on. As far as the Wavves formula, this is the closest thing you're going to hear. Nathan and the others here sound so much more in their comfort zone and sound so less awkward. The synths are heavy, the harmonies are on point, and this is easily one of Nathan's wildest performances in ages. Honestly my only slight problem with this is that I wish there were a few more harmonies, because at the end of the day this just sounds like a Wavves B-Side, a darn good one though. Then we have "Nearly As Much As You". To be honest, I was worried about this one as soon as I heard the opening vocals. However, it picks up quickly and ends up becoming one of the better tracks here. "Nearly As Much As You" as far as vocals have some of the most bizarre performances here, almost drifting into Ariel Pink territory, but they work wonderfully for Spirit Club. Speaking of being worried by the intro of a track, I almost gave up the instant I heard the intro of "You're So Mean". This one is an acoustic one, and at this point in the album that was the last thing I wanted to hear. While it starts out really underwhelming, once everything picks up it becomes one of the standout moments here by far. Nathan's performance is genuinely heartfelt, and everything else comes off as respectable. This album is seriously a mess, but I'm still really interested in where it goes
Rating: 6.7/10
Give A Listen To: “Fast Ice”, “Broken Link”, “You’re So Mean”, “Your Eyes Tell Lies”
Overall Thoughts: Man, this album is messy. Spirit Club have the basics down for this sound they're going for, and to a casual listener sure this is gonna sound just fine. But underneath all the sweet harmonies and hero worship, there's really a lot of messy stuff happening. The guitar's could have been punchier, the lyrics in places could have been a whole less corny, and overall the material Spirit Club bring to the table could be so much more interesting and original. However, I will give them this. Wavves and Nathan Williams needed a rejuvenation of sorts, and while this isn't perfect, I'm absolutely interested to see where this goes.
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