The San Diego based band Wavves will be releasing their latest album King of the Beach August 3rd 2010. This being their third studio album Wavves has managed to smooth out some of the ruff edges to their sound and seems to have found their grove. Known for their distortion heavy contributions to the music world Wavves has painted a hazy humming picture of the California landscape curtsey of song writer Nathan Williams. This band may be based out of San Diego but you could swear the songs off of this album were written with L.A. in mind. Any sheen this album could have is dimmed, coated by the same mixture of fine desert dust and smog that collects on the body as you wander around the city of angels. It’s not so much in the lyrics that this scene of irreversible jadedness is revealed but in the music. The drone aspect of Wavves’ music creates a kind of California Grunge, every fiber of the lyrics screams good times in the sun whereas the melodic backdrop acts as a stark contrast, dulling anything to shiny or sweet. If you are feeling slightly nostalgic for The Caesars, Wavves may do it for you as well. They sound very similar to The Caesars.
The L.A. California based band The Like are set to release their sophomore album Release Me on June 19th . Their first was a bit of a flop back in 2005 but the band has returned with a few new members and a more refined sound. With a style reminiscent of the 60s (some guitar riffs feel like they were stripped straight out of The Beatles anthology), that isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. The retro feel of this album should not come as any surprise to those paying attention to the more impressive contributions of the L.A. music scene. Last year the freshmen act, Dawes came out with a roots rock album called North Hills, which could replace one or more favorite classic rock road trip albums in your collection. And like Dawes, The Like have taken their cues from a more glorious time in music with Release Me. What makes this album worth listening to? It’s simple… because it works. Put the girl band thing aside for a moment and think about the music, it’s well put together, it does justice to the era it is drawing influences from and most importantly it’s good. 
Jack Tatum the man behind the musical stylings of the band Wild Nothing has recently released the album Gemini. The Virginian native seems to have taken it upon himself to reintroduce the listening public to the sounds of a decade that is both loved and hated by many, namely the 80s. Gemini is heavy on the synth and light on the vocals coalescing in a kind of haze of synth drum kit riddled nostalgia. (There is nothing like banging out a drum loop on an electronic drum kit, like playing whack-a-mole without the mallet.) Nothing really new here, the sound is a lot like Jesus and Mary Chain or The Human League. What the album lacks in vocal execution it makes up for with a rather good showing when it comes to the melodies. Synth drum loops and wonderfully retro sounding keyboard parts are hypnotizing, drawing the listener in and not letting go until the very last track. Tracks to look out for on Gemini are Pessimist, Bored Games and Chinatown. For anyone who misses the 80s and needs a little fix without having to dust off the vinyl, Wild Nothing is the way to go. 