“I lost my job, I miss my mom, I wish my cat could talk”
The hype around this band is huge. So huge that I had written the band off as yet another fucking “throwback” type band. You know, the kind that hipsters always end up being in love with. The whole kitsch thing always bothered me.
This album came out in late July, I did not hear it until around mid-October (mostly due to the insistence of my friend). Was the hype deserved? Eh, maybe. To a certain point, anyway.
Basically, you are looking at a throwback style indie pop record. So, all the trappings are there. low-fi, fuzzy guitars, 60’s influences vocals. The whole bit. What makes this stand out from similar bands, like Dum Dum Girls, is that this borrows more from Brian Wilson than it does the classic girl groups. The surf vibe gives it that California sound that this record was meant to have. Yeah, there are touches of garage, but mostly this is a surf pop record. That is mostly pretty awesome.
Lyrically, this is pretty simple. While some bands, let’s say Wavves, suffer from having overly simple lyrics, Best Coast seems to excel because of it. In the song Bratty B, the line “sorry I lost your favourite t-shirt. I’ll buy you a new one, a better one,” comes off sounding sincere rather than awkward and blunt. The quote that opens the review is from the song Goodbye, which is probably my favourite on the whole record. A whole lot of this record is written in the clear and succinct style found in classic pop music. The “I love you” and “I miss you” sentiments sound better that way to me. It worked for the Beach Boys, it worked for the Ramones, and it works for Best Coast
For the songs themselves, the opening song Boyfriend usually gets skipped. Same goes for Honey (though not skipped as much). To me the record seems more front loaded. The first six songs seem to be the best of the bunch. The latter six tracks have their moments, but all the strong, must listen songs are already over. This is a pretty common thing with music these days, I just do not get it. While the latter half is certainly not filler by any means, it just does not feel as strong (save for Bratty B, which is the stand out on the 2nd half).
More or less, the hype around this band was pretty spot on. Best Coast is not doing anything that has not been done before. Bethany Cosentino is obviously no Brian Wilson. For being a throwback type indie pop band, in a scene where there are plenty, Best Coast stands out. So, fuck it, lets say 4 out of 5. Yeah? This record is going to be on a lot of “Best Of 2010” lists, and it is totally fair.
Team Reasonable 