BEST COAST - Crazy For You
Monday, August 2, 2010 at 11:00AM 
Oh man, did I ever have this record in the crosshairs. From the budget, kitsch-conscious cover to the surf-worthy wavves (sic) of hype that have been cascading forth ever since their singles first started to leak, I have been sure of one thing: Best Coast was bunch of hip hot air. And no way was I gonna get sucked into its undertow. I'll just have one listen, y'know, so that I actually know what I'm talking about rather than just being some reactionary jerk...
And that was all it took. One listen became two, became three, became the commute to and from work. Turns out Best Coast was just like John Locke when he becomes the Smoke Monster in the last season of Lost: you've got to stab them right in the heart fast before they can sing to you or you become powerless.
Which is precisely where I'm at with this record: powerless and entirely at its mercy. Sure, I can gain enough rational thought to assess that some tracks like "Bratty B" are somewhat lazy examples of noisy surf-pop—ones where the tendency toward simplicity produces something more inane than immediate. But for the most part, Crazy For You is as gorgeously gooey and instantly agreeable as a day at the beach with a bottomless rum punch. And the best part of Best Coast? Singer Bethany Cosentino can really sing. Her voice is dynamite, occasionally even mustering a headiness akin to Neko Case's little sister, all dizzy with reverb and sultriness. She takes an entire album of über-straightforward fuzzy indie pop and grounds it with personality and emotion—the highs kick higher, and ballads swoon heavier. And no amount of worldly cynicism that I can muster can deny her or her band's awesome record.
As Bethany herself sings two songs in: "You drive me crazy, but I love you." Exactly.
Reader Comments (1)
Posted your review at my blog Notes from Undergrounds: http://fischerzed.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/best-coast/
Got a lot of hits, and agreement.