Oh hey, it’s
your resident Best Coast fan girl, reporting for duty. Did
you forget last fall’s post about my deep admiration for BC?
You’re lucky you dodged this bullet till now; after 35
Denton I almost wrote a lengthy essay, "Why I traveled four
hours to Denton to stand at an outdoor festival in shorts
and a t-shirt in 40 degree weather while it rained, just to
see a band that I had seen 5 times already, Best Coast." And
that was just the title!
Well, as of May 15 Best Coast released a new album, The
Only Place. This is great for two reasons; it
temporarily justifies the amount of time I listen to, think
about, tweet about, and talk about Best Coast, and it’s
actually a really awesome album. There’s been a lot of
discussion about The Only Place, mostly because it’s
been deemed "more mature." It’s certainly a slightly
smoother sound - the old 7" style fuzzy/buzzy Best Coast
distortion is nowhere to be found. The songs are a bit more
introspective. But at the core, it’s the same old Best Coast
that we know and love. While that’s garnered its own
criticism - i.e. why haven’t they grown more artistically -
I’ve always believed in those wise words of many backwoods
Texans; "if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it."
My two favorite tracks on the album (so far) are Better
Girl and My Life. These songs are pop-rock at
their best. Better Girl treats us to upbeat, lazy
complaining that seems made for ladies to wistfully sway
their hips to, in that odd, noncommittal indie rock show
dance. My Life is a little more intense - although it
may seem like a light song at first, the hint of violin and
layered vocals give it heart-haunting depth.
Enjoy these two gems; but I highly recommend you give the
whole album a spin. I may be a superfan, but there really
isn’t a bad song on it. And of course they’ll be in town the
first week of June for Chaos in Tejas at Emo’s - you can get
tix
here.
:Best
Coast - Better Girl:
:Best
Coast - My Life:
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