Wavves - V (Ghost Ramp / Warner Bros.) 2015
7
“Have I lived too long? Why does my head hurt?” asks Nathan Williams in the opening track of V. Wavves’ fifth studio album is their cleanest sounding record to date, but it feels more like a hangover, complete with a pounding headache. V’s annoyingly catchy, fun songs may not be about having fun, but they are totally relatable to someone who knows what it feels like to be “hard to express, depressed and bored” (“Pony”), and to drink and think “Way Too Much”. By keeping their trademark sunny sound, the band have created an honest and ultimately optimistic record that proves that sometimes it’s okay to feel like shit, regardless if that’s because of alcohol or a breakup or self-doubt, because “it gets better”.