Summer Mood

Shangri-Las and Ronettes boys and girls know there is no reason with you shouldn’t bang those drums like it’s summertime and sing about heartaches. Little sweet 60s surf pop chords sneaking in your bones, making you lip-sing every word and harmony. Lyrics about pretty boys and teeny love affairs sang with hope of the perfect love story in every little distort. Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno voice all these wonderfully on the sun-soaked Crazy For You, without fear of being name-tagged or easily dismissed as frivolous.

Cosentino sings about her desires in a seemingly simple fashion but her lyrics are down right honest and she does not apologise or gives the impression of being irony when penning raw and basic lines (“I just wanna tell you that I always miss you”). She puts her fears, insecurities, jealousy out there in the burning light of the sun for all to see (“Pick up the phone/I wanna talk about my day/It really sucked”, “The other girl’s not like me/She’s skinnier and prettier”). And in the band’s hands even a line like “You’re happy” repeated obsessively feels more than just one dumb short sentence.

Crazy For You’s melodies are brisk, basic and laid back. Just like the lines are simple but well-put together, each chord, drum beat and ‘woooo’ are sewn to one another to become short songs in such a way they instantly catch one’s attention and are easy to like. They call for the sunset, sunrise and everything in between, whole days spend on the beach in a chaise lounge, doing nothing but listening to the album. Each guitar solo inspires long driven on Californian highways or road trips to Mexico, with the sun rays reflecting in the windshield.

Essentially, Best Coast’s debut is a summer album. A fun, charismatic summer album. But they use the best tricks they have up their short sleeves (loveable beach-pop guitars, heart-felt lyrics, Ramones ethics even) in turning Crazy For You into an album that won’t be forgotten after the end of August.