First Impressions: Beach Fossils

One of the things we want to stress here in the Lighthouse is conciseness. We want to glean the best music (and provide caution to the overhyped) so you don't have to waste your time on the legwork. We love the legwork. That takes a lot of trust on your end; trust that our tastes mesh with yours, or, if nothing else, we can justify where we come from on our likes and dislikes.

First impressions was Tim's idea. Essentially, it acts as a live blog of an album listening; a track-by-track breakdown going through a record, picking out high and low points, drawing comparisons, etc.

I admit I'm blog-late (a month [fuck internet immediacy]) on Beach Fossils, but to be honest, I haven't heard too much buzz about them to force me to listen to their self-titled full-length debut on Captured Tracks. Knowing little about the band going in (aside from their name, which says way more than it should about their sound) I had these reactions:

First Impressions:

Sometimes
Alright. I dig the lo-fi aesthetic. I think this is a good trend, and generally a neat evolution in music. Woodsist/Real Estate all those guys are the counter-weight to those bands who look for polish to compensate for limited ability.

The vocals sound great. I don't know if that's harmony or just double-tracking, but the way it's produced gives a great effect.

Youth
Cool interplay between the guitars.

"I don't know what I feel, but I feel it all tonight."

Vacation
"cleanly picked single notes stacked over complementary bass patterns and unobtrusive drums." -Pitchfork

I think there's kind of an unspoken callback to Television in the guitars

The whole beach vibe has been done to death. But when I hear music like this, it evokes images of the unweeded, dreary Fall, turbulent-watered beaches seen in Eternal Sunshine. This doesn't make me want to lay in the sun. This makes me want to stare at waves crashing on jagged rocks.

Lazy Day
Lyrically the album is very slice-of-life. And for a Brooklyn band writing about "lazy day"s I can't help but think their parents may still be paying their rent.

Twelve Roses
I really love the harmony/melody on the chorus. And conciseness. This seems like a Tim song (short, 2:20)

Daydream
This album has a great, great flow. That may be attributed to a lack of variance between songs. But that also means there's a clear vision throughout, which makes for a pleasant listening experience.

I'm finding something to like in every one of these tracks.

Golden Age
There's a nice distortion to the kick in this song. I really dig the drum sound.

Heavy on the reverb for the vocals. I like the way it sounds. Again. This album is very pleasant to listen to.

Love the drums kicking back in at ~4 min.

Window View
This song harkens to the vibe I got from Bonfires on the Heath. Really, really mellow. Perfect for sleeping.

The Horse
Nothing super-standout about this track. Just a good continuation of the album.

Wide Awake
I like the introduction of the synth to this song. It seems to have taken a backseat on the rest of the record, but it fits really well here.

I also like how the reverb level changes on the vocals throughout the album. That shows that there was a fair amount of thought put into the production of each track. Not just, "OK, set the levels, let's do this."

Gathering
OK... The water sounds/gulls is a bit of an overstatement, even for an outro. I guess it's acceptable, but I would have preferred not having it.

That's it! Overall impressions: Beach Fossils fits into the mosaic of their strange sub-genre. This album is not to be written off if you like this style and aesthetic. It's essential for its category. Best listened to: driving home from a vacation from your normal life.

Best,
Erik