Wavves
V (Ghost Ramp/Warner Bros. Records)

V is Wavves’ fifth full-length album, and judging by the 11 songs found here, frontman Nathan Williams is dangerously close to turning into a parody of himself. This much becomes clear within the first few lines of opener “Heavy Metal Detox”, which begins with a blast of chugging pop-punk and Williams sneering, “I’m not doing anything today/I don’t care what you say/I’m not going out/I’m staying home.”

That’s exactly the kind of sentiment the singer-guitarist specialized in back when he was getting the project off the ground in 2008 and 2009, at which point he was just another directionless brat living at his parents’ house and watching Seinfeld reruns. These days, however, he’s a 29-year-old with a major-label deal, so it would be fair to expect to hear some signs of maturity on V. Given his prolific output and plethora of side projects (including the beat-focused Sweet Valley and the psych-inspired Spirit Club), isn’t it about time that Williams abandoned the slacker image?

Instead, V is a back-to-basics affair that focuses entirely on upbeat pop melodies, scorchingly distorted punk, romantic loss, and angry self-loathing. On “Tarantula”, the frontman snarls, “Every morning/Toxic waste/Everything sucks/If you don’t get your way,” while “Way Too Much” is a hangover anthem that hits the nail on the head with its chorus admission, “This conversation’s getting boring.”

It’s not that these are bad songs: Williams still has a knack for catchy melodies, and none of the songs from V disappoint on that count. But there’s none of the stylistic adventurousness that Williams has displayed in his other projects, and the constantly downcast lyrics make this sound like the work of a talented songwriter treading water.