Wavves, Manchester Deaf Institute

are a band who split opinion. After quietly releasing an eponymous debut album, the second record, ‘Wavvves’, has seen the band catapulted to some sort of notoriety. It’s fair to say that the band’s output dances between hipster bullshit and actual inspired work, but it’s a recent performance at Primavera festival that has gained the most attention. A day later, lead singer Nathan Williams would announce his addiction to alcohol, but on stage in Barcelona, he insulted the crowd, fought with his drummer and left in a hail of bottles.

You could be forgiven for thinking, then, that their performances are generally a Pete Doherty-esque shambles, but there isn’t a trace of that at their show in Manchester. After cancelling the remainder of the band’s last European tour to deal with his demons, he’s brought the band back from the brink in stunning fashion. Even if it had all gone to pot, the crowd couldn’t have really complained, having been treated to two of the most exciting new bands in the country beforehand. Mazes have been earning themselves a reputation for their savvy, angular style of crafting a song, and the crowd certainly enjoy it. Spectrals are another prospect altogether, sounding like they’ve been raised in the woods, listening to nothing Woodsist Records, fitting given the occasion.

Maybe the quality of the support band made them up their game, or perhaps Williams drafting in two former members of Jay Reatard’s backing band to create his sound live has helped the band out, but either way, Wavves live isn’t what all the hype would suggest. In actual fact, the performance goes without a problem, and the usual worries about seeing a lo-fi band are quashed within the first few songs. You could barely find three people more different if you tried – wild haired, tall and broad, Stephen Pope provides the bass, whereas drummer Billy Hayes looks more like he’d be at home in a buddy movie than behind a tom. Then there’s Nathan Williams, scrawny and positively minute compared to the presence of his bassist, he’s the core of the operation, and with his surf-rock inspired riffs and distant, dreamy vocals, it’s he who their sound hinges on.

Though there’s a strong chance that seeing an act that enjoy their fuzz might just be lazy and untalented, this simply isn’t the case with Wavves. The sound they produce manages to faithfully recreate the sonic spectrum achieved on their records. What’s more, Williams genuinely seems happy to be on stage, touring again – something which he must’ve feared was over after the bad press from his Spanish antics. In true do-it-yourself fashion, the band tune up by themselves and begin to pack up their equipment almost as soon as they finish, without a hint of false-encoring. The set might have been relatively short, but it’s simply nice to know that, with Williams seemingly happy, chances of a Wavvvves album is on the rise.