Wavves

In a lot of ways, it’s never been easier to be a musician. These days, with a handful of equipment and a smidgen of talent, you can create something on your laptop that sounds nearly as good as the stuff that comes out of professional studios. You don’t even need a record label, really — not if your main goal is to be heard. You can put your stuff on MySpace and, with a little networking, develop a global fan base.

This explains why the guy in the cubicle next to you can say that he has a band. It also explains why music can be so damn boring today. Sometimes, after you’ve heard yet another crystal-clear, perfectly assembled recording by yet another earnest, bearded college-kid indie rocker, don’t you want to hear something messy for a change? Some slightly out-of-tune guitars or some slightly out-of-time drumbeats? If so, Wavves may be for you.

Wavves is the solo project of San Diego’s Nathan Williams, a home-recording artist who has never met a track he didn’t think would be improved by a little distortion. But, like Times New Viking, to whom he’s sometimes compared, he makes an unholy racket that upon closer inspection turns out to conceal sing-along melodies and traditional song structures. Like Jay Reatard and No Age, other frequent comparisons, Williams seems to be on the vanguard of a movement that’s rebuilding the punk rock underground for all the people who are tired of everything sounding so damn clean all the time.

WAVVES : The Casbah, Friday, April 17, 8:30 p.m. 619-232-4355. $10.