Before you even hear Best Coast, lead lyricist, Bethany Cosentino has, in some shape or another, worked in her spread eagled and tormenting psychosis to reflect any relationship you’ve committed to. The result? Crazy For You is a collection of relentless audio love letters set to the beat of West Coast beachy rhythms; triumphant and satisfying proof that emotional trauma doesn’t need a Britney Spears (‘Boys’) sex up job.
In just over thirty minutes, the wising LA-ite buzzes through being the doting friend and would be lover in ‘Boyfriend’, the anti-socialite and needy girlfriend in ‘Goodbye’, the pining Ex and homicidal partner in ‘Bratty B’ and its all nicely panned out in enough “I miss you” lyrics to make you empathize with the dear girl.
Yes, Best Coast’s stream of consciousness is certainly relatable, yet the band boycotts the 2010 downer trend on Los Angeles first with the brash we-live-here album cover art, toasting to Californian maps, hometown cats and weed like Palm trees. But by rewinding into riffs of the pop art sixties while channeling the powerful, vocal rhyming techniques of Vuruca Salt and The Breeders, the stripped down lyrics are transformed into a full-length album itch, diverse and difficult to forget.
On the smug surface, the boyfriend wishing theme of opener ‘Boyfriend’ couldn’t be more different from closing song ‘When I’m With You’. Apart from the latter track being a rarity in Crazy For You – a success story of “I have fun” in a relationship - both tracks in fact unveil Costentino’s Danelectro guitar and Bobb Bruno’s beastly lead counterpart in a chord progression of quiet and quickening hooks, fire branding their scorching sixties identity. The surf pop backdrop of “woah-oh” is the next dominating feature in their debut, particularly in the brooding ‘Bratty B’. Though the band marks melancholy camaraderie in choral form (in the intro lead), Constentino strolls in her Californian twang “my day/It really sucked” showcasing the lighthearted angst married throughout the record.
Somehow, in the wake of the influx of surf rock tributes, Best Coast avoids being lost in the mess and releases an album that boasts consistency, managing to produce plenty of distinct variations that niggle at your inner singing monologue. Even overpowering their Californian sensibility, the gothic-grunge ‘Honey’ delivers Bobb to the limelight, with sinister guitar rhythms amid the mourning lead vocals, a surprising and frank installment to echo the painful yearning for the absent partner, who in the end “don't have much to say”.
Despite appearing to bear a blunt approach lyrically, visually and in composition, Best Coast hold back before they turn into a Californian one-hit-wonder. The trail of two minute tracks, one sided, unresolved lyrics and teasing leisurely ballads like ‘I Want To’ (that breaks into an up-tempo treat two minutes in), curls an understanding that they still have so much more to offer, just maybe not all about boys. – Gemm Dempster
MySpace | Website