大象传媒

Californian noise-pop act Wavves, were more than ably supported by Belfast-based What What, who entertained the respectably-sized Wednesday night crowd with bad jokes and much better music. What What profess themselves to be 'electronic Kraut-pop for beachcombers'; tongue-in-cheek no doubt but, nonetheless, a surprisingly accurate description. 听The crowd was treated to equal doses of electro-bips and guitars, and some of the catchiest tunes to come out of Belfast in a while. 听All this delivered with refreshing energy and a good sense of fun make What What a must-see for local gig-goers.

Nathan Williams (the man behind the Wavves) and, to a lesser extent, his drumming cohort, seemed markedly more jaded in comparison. There was a palpable nervousness and distant attitude from Williams, perhaps because it was the first night of the European tour, or because he broke a string on his first song and had to play the rest of the gig on a borrowed guitar. Whatever it was, it's pretty safe to say, he's not much of a people person. 听

However, the songs he delivered from this year's Wavvves album were scuzzy pop perfection, making up for the mumbley sub-banter between them. 听Williams buries catchy Californian surf sunshine and melodies deep underneath masses of dark guitars and lo-fidelity, resulting in an appealing duplicity of rough noise and accessible tunes. 听Songs like 'So Bored' and 'Wavves' were enough to incite the audience to considerable bopping, with some borderline moshing at the front. With a limited catalogue to choose from, having only one album out, Wavves didn't last much longer than half an hour, but for that half an hour, they were damned good.

Alice Quigley