Mom + Pop

Nathan Williams officially earns his King of the Beach title on his fourth and finest LP under the Wavves banner. Working closely with onetime Jay Reatard sideman Stephen Pope and, oddly enough, mainstream pop producer John Hill (Rihanna, P!nk, Shakira), Afraid Of Heights is the sound of a boy becoming a man before our very eyes as Williams expunges the personal demons of anxiety, fear and paranoia that have haunted him for much of his life head on. The results, with such infectious tunes as “Dog,” “Sail to The Sun” and the string-drenched “I Can’t Dream,” are a winning blast of pure pop-punk passion akin to Weezer’s Pinkerton retrofitted for the Tumblr generation. At the rate at which he is ascending, Williams better cure himself of this acrophobia really quickly.