Review Summary: Lo-fi beach rock with a nice creepy vibe overtop
Do you wish it was still summer? That it could be 1964 again? That all you saw could just be one long sepia toned beach scene? You should probably listen to Best Coast as it's the closest we can get right now.
It seems rather amazing these songs made it out of the garage. The combination of the beach boys, “lazing around like a creep” as Bethany puts it, and the sheer lack of any attempt at something of high fidelity make something irresistible. The personality of the songs make it seem like the singer is sitting on your couch talking directly to you about how boring the night is, or reading from her journal about how she spent her day.
Each song is clearly about something but usually I'll be damned if I can figure it out. They are short songs with very little instrumentation but lots of distortion filling the holes in between. The guitar playing is minimal at best with the drums pounding along. A very nice touch having the lead singer, Bethany Cosentino, also the do backing vocals. Her voice is the key leading us on this lo-fi summer journey
On the surface these are rather simple songs, the kind of songs that are all surface with no depth. But added together as a larger piece it creates a universe of it's own. One of not wanting people to leave and when they do, writing songs about being introverted and missing your other half. Of days spent staring at the beach and not wanting anything more than to write a song about it and wrap it all up in a nice box of fuzz.
Lyrically there is not much to speak of here. Most of the album consists of simple little love songs, filled with the almost too cute lyrical turns you kinda don't want to hear. The kind that should be kept in your head or in your journal if it's not wrapped up in a perfect little noise pop song. Thoughts like “want to hate you but then I kiss you/want to kill you but then I'd miss you” sound much better surrounded by senseless noise.
If you remember The Mooney Suzuki but wished they would dumb it down a little bit and be more sunny then this is the band for you. These are really addictive songs with obvious hooks that will bury you into your brain that will require daily feeding. The best songs have a decisive stomp to them pushing them along through the double tracked vocals alongside the sometimes surging guitar.
These are lo-fi songs about sunny days and missing people drenched in fuzz. Honey sweet harmonies tell stories of conflicting emotions from the garage. Ignore the creepy vibe, it only adds to the tone.
