All photos by David Greenwald

I made myself a New Year’s resolution that I was going to stop using words like “hype,” “zeitgeist,” “blogosphere” and “Pitchfork.” So I’ll just tell you what I saw on Saturday night: A duo that is not ready to open shows at the El Rey, much less perform in public. Wavves are a San Diego lo-fi duo whose scattered releases (and upcoming full-length, Wavvves) plunge deep into red-lining guitars and cauterizing fuzz. It makes their music visceral, immediate — and surprisingly boring, once it steps out from behind the curtain.

Live, the band made no effort to replicate the searing sounds of their recordings and just simply played the songs. That was a mistake. Their drummer has the creative faculties of a deaf Meg White, while frontman Nathan Williams droned along with “Oooh” falsettos as he aimlessly played power chords. Occasionally, on songs such as “So Bored,” Wavves caught the glimpse of an actual performance, but for the most part, it was like watching a Ramones practice session if they fired their bassist and overdosed on Valium. Lamme. More photos after the jump.