Wavves’ Nathan Williams has written a lot of distortion-heavy, youth burnout-centered punk rock songs but “Demon to Lean On” may be the best yet. It’s got an ambling, summer afternoon feeling to it, perfect for the approaching warm spring weather. Williams seems to be paying a small homage to Nirvana’s “Dumb” with the line “We’re probably just dumb”. The fact that the tune also sounds a bit like something Nirvana could’ve come up with further cements this association.
Lines like “No hope and no future”, “bury me deeply instead”, and “holding a gun to my head” all sung over a poppy, guitar-layered melody are pretty much what we’ve come to expect from Wavves over the years. The general sunny, carefree sound of “Demon to Lean On,” however, manages more-so than anything they’ve done prior to be utterly delightful, in the most punk rock kind of way.