Earlier this year when I heard that Nate Williams of Wavves and Dylan Baldi of Cloud Nothings were cooking up a collaborative album in Williams' LA home, I had little scepticism. However, as time progressed, I grew more and more anxious of how this record was to turn out. Some collaborations are great, however it's a tough task to gauge whether or not the artists involved are capable of... well... working with other people. The inability to co-create is a huge problem for many musicians; even I, the greatest musician on Earth, have the curse. To help you understand what collaborating can feel like sometimes, imagine you're painting a picture, a picture so incredibly beautiful that it made Aphrodite herself look like a prawn. Now imagine a bunch of other geezers start waving their own brushes around your masterpiece, adding intricacies that you mightn't feel appropriate. Annoying, right?
I thought about whether Baldi and Williams had the chemistry to pull off No Life For Me, and my thoughts led to some observations. Dylan Baldi has been the chief songwriter of Cloud Nothings since it's formation in 2009. Since then, I can't really name any other projects he has worked on or artists he has collaborated with, making it difficult to analyse his ability to work with other people (duh). Now let's take a look at Nate Williams, someone who has worked on numerous other projects. Nate is Wavves. He's the brains, the songwriter, the poster boy (although some would argue former Jay Reatard bassist Stephen Pope and his whack hair give Wavves the bong scented appeal we know them for). On my birthday last year, Williams released two tracks with a new band. The trio, known as Spirit Club, consisted of brother Joel Williams (of Sweet Valley, a duo that Nate also happens to be a member of) and Jeans Wilder. There are some Spirit Club tracks I really dig, such as "Sling" (especially this live version featured on Pitchfork TV), however, upon release of their debut LP a couple months back, I came to terms with the fact that this new project just didn't have the creative flair of other projects by Williams. Even the new Wavves track "Leave" is pretty... bad. I had begun to think that Nate had expired past his used by date, however I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I put my headphones on and gave this No Life For Me a listen.
This record has some seriously well crafted tracks. Throughout the 21 minute run time, I found myself tapping my feet, humming along, and also overcome by an urge to run my bass through some fuzzy effects and jam along.The songwriting is definitely memorable. From Baldi's slick and indelible vocal melodies on Come Down to the ever so crunchy guitar that opens the title track, accompanied by some of the most Wavves-y sounding vocals I've ever heard, no track is really forgotten. Nate's (sometimes over accentuated and occasionally whiny) voice actually adheres quite well to Dylan's. Together, these reverb soaked vocal tracks glide through the tracklist.
The instrumentation is at times very clever. Elegant and fuzzy (but by no means unpleasantly fuzzy) licks strut around tracks like Nothing Hurts. Whether it be due to the lo-fi bedroom aesthetic or the songwriting in general, everything comes together surprisingly well on this one. This track, which was conveniently placed at the end of the tracklist, was actually the song that made me form my overall opinion and verdict of the album. It's quite bleak, yet it provides a well needed contrast to the poppy garage rock groove of the rest of the record. Baldi exerts feelings we all experienced when we were 15. Its super angsty, but you can't help but get a little nostalgically emotional as a result of the delivery of lines such as "And I cannot stop myself from thinking, Of all the ways I'm wrong" or the opening line "It was a mistake for me to call you, When I knew what I'd do". Especially when they're sung over a glossy and reflective keyboard.
The instrumentation is at times very clever. Elegant and fuzzy (but by no means unpleasantly fuzzy) licks strut around tracks like Nothing Hurts. Whether it be due to the lo-fi bedroom aesthetic or the songwriting in general, everything comes together surprisingly well on this one. This track, which was conveniently placed at the end of the tracklist, was actually the song that made me form my overall opinion and verdict of the album. It's quite bleak, yet it provides a well needed contrast to the poppy garage rock groove of the rest of the record. Baldi exerts feelings we all experienced when we were 15. Its super angsty, but you can't help but get a little nostalgically emotional as a result of the delivery of lines such as "And I cannot stop myself from thinking, Of all the ways I'm wrong" or the opening line "It was a mistake for me to call you, When I knew what I'd do". Especially when they're sung over a glossy and reflective keyboard.
I'll admit, for people who have not been exposed to the works of Wavves or Cloud Nothings prior to listening, No Life For Me might not come across as something worth your time. However, to fans of both artists, this album will feel like a Star Wars/LotR crossover trilogy; to me it possesses effortless ambition. It's almost as if they accidentally recorded this whilst having a shindig Nate's house - but isn't that where the charm of lo-fi garage-y surf-y music hails from? The notion that the music you're listening to is the result of a few dudes having fun and messing around with beat up Stratocasters in a basement adds a sense of realism to the story told whilst also transporting you to a clouded garage dressed in the scent of spilt beer and stale doritos. A magical thought for every diehard Wavves fan.
No Life For Me is a good record for a collaboration between two bands, however the novelty of its premise might outweigh the actual quality of the record for some. It certainly had that effect on me, but I was able to look past the hype of this record and see it for what it is: a catchy, unassertive record that is straight to the point.
Words by Harry.
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