By Megan Neff
Bethany Cosentino has effectively traded in her psych-drone robes after leaving Pocahaunted. Since 2009, she and bandmate Bobb Bruno have released a slew of breezy summer singles on various labels under the Best Coast moniker. The full length release on the Mexican Summer imprint finds a couple of those old tunes sporting some (kinda) hi-fi spitshine, plus 11 new tracks that easily live up to all the hype.
The sunshine state duo blend girl group harmonies and surf rock with what’s good about modern indie pop. While they might be keeping time with a fad for beachy throwback music, they do it so well you can’t help but like it. The songs are playfully nostalgic, relentlessly upbeat and never more than a short-but-sweet three minutes.
The midtempo “Boyfriend” opens the album before easing into the frenetic ode to universal longing in “Crazy for You.” Bruno lays out simple beats on the drums that remain somewhat in the background of Cosentino’s alternately jangling guitar hooks and foggy reverb.
“Honey” marks the only time the album lagged, feeling weirdly melancholy in that drunk before noon sort of way. A gorgeous hyperactive Beach Boys double doozy by way of “Happy” and “Each and Everyday” resuscitates the album before the grand finale, however, which ends on the hopeful overtones of “When I’m With You.”
Cosentino’s crisp vocals lie at the heart of Crazy For You. Think a throatier Linda Scott. She stays within a comfortable but strong range, layering to flesh everything out. Lyrically, no boundaries are being pushed. The subject matter deals mainly with boys, TV, cats and smoking weed. There are a few rhyme schemes repeated more than once.
But it’s within the unaffected simplicity that the appeal lays. Because if we’re honest, this record has been in our blood since junior high. It swelled with our first kiss and soured at the first taste of unrequited love. And with the help of Best Coast it has fermented into a bitter sweet mash of 60s flavored nostalgia good to the last oohing ahhing drop.
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