White Williams: Violator
Considering Joe Williams’ background in noise rock, one would think that his debut album under the alias White Williams would be a flurry of shrill guitar feedback and abnormal strong structure. However, Williams’ freshman album “Smoke” was obviously inspired by the neo new wave movement sweeping the avant-garde music crowd. Complete with minimalist electro pop groove the album sounds eerily like a mixture between a young Beck and Moby. It was revealed late last year that Williams recorded most of “Smoke” on a single laptop in various apartments. This is not that surprising when the listener is engulfed by soft synth stabs and guitars that contain an immediately recognizable do it yourself ethic. Lyrically Williams can be ambiguous but his penchant for infectious melody and natural boyish charm over comes all pretensions. The song “Violator” off of the album quickly became a fan favorite especially during Williams’ live performances. Williams has finally appeased his die hards by releasing a video that perfectly matches the easy new wave vibe of the track. Mimicking the slow driving bass of the intro the video shows moving black liquid and visuals of Williams staring nonchalantly into the camera. The simplistic vibe of the song is shown on the video in what appears to be an ode to weird 80s early MTV electro videos.
Considering Joe Williams’ background in noise rock, one would think that his debut album under the alias White Williams would be a flurry of shrill guitar feedback and abnormal strong structure. However, Williams’ freshman album “Smoke” was obviously inspired by the neo new wave movement sweeping the avant-garde music crowd. Complete with minimalist electro pop groove the album sounds eerily like a mixture between a young Beck and Moby. It was revealed late last year that Williams recorded most of “Smoke” on a single laptop in various apartments. This is not that surprising when the listener is engulfed by soft synth stabs and guitars that contain an immediately recognizable do it yourself ethic. Lyrically Williams can be ambiguous but his penchant for infectious melody and natural boyish charm over comes all pretensions.
The song “Violator” off of the album quickly became a fan favorite especially during Williams’ live performances. Williams has finally appeased his die hards by releasing a video that perfectly matches the easy new wave vibe of the track. Mimicking the slow driving bass of the intro the video shows moving black liquid and visuals of Williams staring nonchalantly into the camera. The simplistic vibe of the song is shown on the video in what appears to be an ode to weird 80s early MTV electro videos.
