Album Review : Best Coast - Crazy For You
- Written by Guest Columnist
There's a fine line between a band defined by its sound and a sound defined by a band. At times, Best Coast's debut Crazy for You straddles this line precariously, with a tendency to err on the side of caution. When it works, it’s a joyous life-affirmer that flags up the album as one of the best records in a summer positively foaming at the mouth with quality releases.
Fuzzy opener ‘Boyfriend’ sets the tone, coming in at a neat two-and-a-half minutes and proving that Bethany Cosentino can pen a song worthy of the acclaim currently being bestowed on Best Coast from all corners of the virtual and real world. The title track ‘Crazy for You’ cribs from both the sound and vocal of The Detroit Cobras and their frontwoman Rachel Nagy but with a more effortless hand.
Indeed, a hearty shot of couldn’t-care-less-ness infects most of the record, with Cosentino’s sometimes off-key wailing masked by a neat sub-Spectoresque production at the heart of the record's appeal. It’s all surfy reverb from beginning to end, not dissimilar to the sound espoused by Leeds band Spectrals (who execute the concept equally as well).
True love, as represented on the record, is clearly without gratification for Cosentino. Where there is a lapsing of the superficial in the lyrical, we’re shown an ego at odds with itself, one with twin obsessions (weed and that unobtainable boy). “My highs are high/my lows are low and I don’t know which way to go”, she sings in “Goodbye”, ‘...and nothing makes me happy/Everytime you leave this house/Everything falls apart”. There’s a darkness beneath it all, an indication that there’s plenty of scope for where Best Coast might go after this.
If there’s any criticism to be had of the album then it’s simply that the requirement for disconnect is high. Maximise your enjoyment by kicking back with a beer or joint and enjoy it for the summery, bubblegummy pop it really is.