As the crowd filed in, slick haircuts and raglan tees everywhere in sight, Nathan Williams and his stoner pals hit the stage and dove right into arguably their biggest hit, ‘King Of The Beach’, from the album of the same name. The loud guitars and louder vocals got everyone going. A relatively bored crowd suddenly sprang to life as Williams’ and co. switched into ‘Idiot’, and another fan favourite, ‘I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl’, a musical fan letter to the Foo Fighters front man taken from the Life Sux EP. Crowd surfers ran rampant as Wavves crashed through ‘Super Soaker’, ‘Take On The World’ and oldie but a goodie ‘Beach Demon’ from the band’s second album Wavvves.

After rattling off hit ‘In The Sand & Bug’, bassist Stephen Pope took a short break to vomit on himself. “He’s done this on every stop of this tour!” Williams tells us enthusiastically, “I’m really sorry,” Pope retorts, as the band jump into a cover of ‘100%’ by Sonic Youth, which was so bad it almost made me regurgitate. The band followed with ‘So Bored’, another oldie that the young kids in attendance weren’t too keen on. Luckily ‘Green Eyes’ was up next, which sent the mob into a frenzy. I’ve never seen so many people crowd surf to a ballad before, different strokes I guess. Not wanting to waste time with encores or meaningless chatter, Wavves ended the night with the “I can’t help but sing along” favourite ‘Post Acid’, which made everyone in attendance shuffle their feet and bop their head to the roaring guitars and powerful drum.

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From their first track Wavves had a mosh raging. For someone who never really had a hardcore phase during high school, this is exactly the type of music I wish had been around. Indie enough to swallow with fast enough guitars and angst to let loose and thrash around. Williams’ vocals are even pretty similar to Blink 182’s Tom Delonge. Hats off to the girl who crowd surfed not just once, but about 12 times. Hopefully she made it home with her shoes. Williams also had a go at one of the bouncers for being rough with other crowd surfers, warning “you don’t want to piss off a crowd when there’s lots of them and only one of you”. To be honest, most of their songs kind of all merge into one, though stands came through with ‘Green Eyes’, ‘Post Acid’ and ‘I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl’. It was a fun night, but I just know if I’d been 17 and snuck into that show it would have been the greatest night of my life.

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IT’S 1AM and Wavves - leader Nathan Williams, bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Jacob Cooper - are in Los Angeles, where they live, sitting in their tour van. They’re parked, they assure me, in the parking lot of the LA Zoo, watching old episodes of Melrose Place and indulging in recreational imbibing that may or may not be legal

”We’re planning on breaking into the zoo, going to confront a rhinoceros,” Williams says.

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Why Wavves Had Beef With Metta World Peace

Metta World Peace may have been suspended for the next seven Lakers game for giving James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder a concussion, but he’s regained the favor of Wavves’ Nathan Williams in the process. SPIN joined diehard Lakers fan Williams and his girlfriend, Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino, for last Sunday’s Lakers game against the Thunder, which went into double overtime. Some time in the first quarter, Williams turned to me to say, “Metta World Peace tried to get me kicked out of the VMAs for smoking a blunt. He was like, ‘Put it out, now.’ ” Wavves bassist Stephen Pope, who was also at the game and rooting for the Thunder, had been tossed out of last August’s ceremony for marijuana possession. Minutes later, the Thunders’ Harden hit the floor after being elbowed in the head by World Peace. (He was later diagnosed with a concussion.)

“See? World Peace,” Williams remarked of the former Ron Artest, rolling his eyes. “He’s one of the dirtiest players.” There were no instant replays at the Staples Center, but when World Peace was ejected from the game, Williams had a change of heart: “I forgive him. Just now. This sucks, we might lose.” The Lakers ended up winning by eight points in double overtime, so maybe World Peace isn’t so essential after all? “Actually, that’s why we went into double overtime,” says Williams. Williams is currently in the studio working on his followup to 2010’s King of the Beach.

I love the Baccha90s: concert a surprising success

Following Spicy Special was lo-fi, surf punk, weed rock act Wavves, composed of lead singer/guitarist Nathan Williams, bassist Stephen Pope, and drummer Jacob Cooper. For those familiar with them, it was to be expected that Wavves would deliver a killer set. Thankfully, although there was a fair amount of moshing, crowd surfing, head banging (y’know, the usual Ivy League stuff) no one was actually harmed … we don’t think.

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Mr. Little Jeans - Runaway (Wavves Remix)

“Some pairings are just meant to be: peanut butter and chocolate, yupsters and absinthe drips, Mr. Little Jeans…and Wavves? Seems like a disaster but sounds like a dream: “Runaway” as heard through a wall of Brillo pads, trashy guitars and sandy reverb nearly bests the original. It’s hypnotic, dark and feels like sleeping under the boardwalk with no blanket. This is weekend rock, through and through.”

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Burgerama is a one day festival put on at The Observatory in Santa Ana in Orange County by record store, label and local heroes Burger Records. This was the first year they’ve held the festival, and they drew in an impressive lineup, which in turn brought in an impressive crowd, selling out the venue. We were surprised that this had sold out without any problem since a lot of these bands play in Los Angeles, only an hour’s drive away, on a very regular basis, but upon entering the venue it all made sense – the crowd was surf-punk teens of Orange County, the kind of kids who can’t make it up to LA on a week day because it’s a school night, or maybe they don’t even have a car; the kind of kids who don’t get to see as much live music as maybe they’d like to; the kind of kids who, when a lineup like this lands on their doorstep, are going to go along and mosh the fuck out. And that’s exactly what they did. And it was pretty awesome.

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Dot To Dot Organiser Anton Lockwood said: “Our second announcement for Dot To Dot 2012 sees us welcome some of the most hotly tipped new acts in the world, including some stars of SXSW. This is what Dot To Dot is all about!”

Kicking off the latest announcement are San Diego surf punks Wavves. Fast, intense, riff propelled mayhem is the order of the day, ensuring Wavves will be raising the energy levels across all three cities. One of the most captivating artists currently getting those in the know all hot and bothered, Willis Earl Beal will be showcasing his Acoustic Sorcery for the Dot To Dot masses, Hooray For Earth will be unleashing their synth-driven psychedelia to whip up the crowds, SXSW sensations (and Tame Impala spin off) Pond will be demonstrating just why they’re being so hotly tipped and Texan art-pop wunderkind Neon Indian will be making a one-off Dot To Dot appearance in Manchester on June 4th.

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“What more could southern California want out of a full-on punk show like Burgerama? Located at the Observatory, just south of Los Angeles, the all-day event took place over two stages, outdoor BBQ, and sported a lineup for the ages. In one corner, you had Wavves, with its fuzzed out surf rock anthems about being a beach bum slacker. In the other, you had OFF!, a collective composed of some of punk’s greatest names of yesteryear, all wrapped up in a new project that’s harder than anything Henry Rollins could even conceive at this point. Below them were half a dozen promising acts, including today’s reigning guitar hero Ty Segall.

It’s pointless debating what’s punk anymore, and Burgerama championed that mentality. Truth is, the main things that punk requires are loads of aggressive energy and a “screw you”, balls-to-the-wall mentality. And that’s exactly what went down at Burgerama. People moshed, artists crowd-surfed, elbows were thrown, lyrics were screamed, and everybody was in high spirits the entire time. That is punk.”

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Is WAVVES Nathan Williams turning into Keanu Reeves?