Customer Reviews

Crazy for You

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Best Coast's debut record is a lovely little scuzzy pop gem. The band has been building a substantial buzz over the last year or so with a string of underground hit singles and splits, and now they've finally unleashed their first great work to the hungry masses. Best Coast, as the name implies, is a beach-inspired pop outfit, blending fuzzy melodies and simple, lovelorn lyrics to great effect. Crazy For You recalls the kind of heartsick feelings of teenage years, a simpler and more powerful time that we all long for again at some point.

The album is short, but it's somewhat a boon, because this is music that could easily outstay its welcome. A 50+ minute album of fuzzy pop songs is inevitably going to lose its punch after awhile, so it was wise of the band to keep the album short and sweet. One of the more disappointing elements of the album is the reuse of a number of those aforementioned singles, which isn't uncommon, but given the time the band has been working on this record, I was hoping for a brand new set of songs. Nonetheless, the singles have been reworked and sharpened to a finer edge, and the album is truly a testament to razor-sharp love songs. The lyrics may not be the deepest you'll ever hear, but they're heartfelt and powerful in context of this collection of uptempo pop songs.

Best Coast has been regarded through this year as a band to watch, and Crazy For You does not disappoint. A great album for any fan of noise and pop and any combination thereof.

What a great sound. That perfect low-fi mix really suits the sharp and lush vocals. The guitars have that california bounce that is easy to identify, hard to imitate. Some great pop tunes here. That being said, the lyrics water everything down to dumb-dumb status. Remedial lyrics would be giving it more credit than its worth. They're really mindless 12 year old girl writing poetry about the boy she likes lyrics. Its a shame, had there been a more mature lyrical vibe this music would be unstoppable. As it is, its enjoyable, but gets old hearing about the exact same thing in every song. Our Deal is the best song for me.

I don't write reviews for products very often, but I felt compelled to for Best Coast's debut album after seeing the overwhelmingly positive reviews here. While I enjoy their upbeat, easygoing surf-pop sound, I can't possibly give a high rating to an album that sounds like one repetitive 31-minute-long song. I have never listened to an album where I couldn't distinguish one song from the next. If I had to rank the songs, I would fail miserably. Adding on to that is the formulaic repetitiveness of their lyrics. I'm pretty sure every single song consists of choruses or hooks that repeat the same one or two lines at least four consecutive times before moving on to the next set of repeating lyrics. So overall, it's a fun summer record to play, but be prepared to zone out after the second song.

One day at the rock climbing gym I heard Best Coast's "Boyfriend" and couldn't get it out of my freak'n head. I usually just download a song I really like instead of buying the complete album(I'm cheap that way) but I decided to gamble and pick up "Crazy for you". I can safely say I'm pleasantly surprised but not blown away by it. Best Coast is one of those bands that only do a couple things but they do them really well. The majority of "Crazy for you" consists of sort and sweet fuzzy pop songs about unrequited love. Singer/song writer Bethany Cosentino moans and coos about the one that got away or the one who doesn't understand her affections. She has a very haunting voice that sounds great with reverb. They have a very unique sound that can send chills down your spine. If you like shoe gaze, surf rock or self-deprecating love songs then Best Coast is for you. Put it in when the sun is setting, roll down the windows and just drive.

This is by far my favorite album from summer 2010. Best Coast has so much talent and breezy melodies that I can listen to this album non-stop and not get tired of it. It's a wonderful album, if you are in the 'Summer Mood' or just want some fantastic new music, be sure to pick this one up.

Rock music has always been dominated by men. From Buddy Holly's pining for Peggy Sue to the libidinal poses of Jim Morrison, most rock and roll songs have been told from the perspective of those with a Y chromosome. In fact, the masculine point of view has been so ingrained in rock and roll that when a woman wants into the tree house she has to prove that, like the rest of the guys, she can take just as many drugs and partake in just as much indiscriminant sex. Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, and Joan Jett, to name a few, became rock and roll icons by asserting that whatever guys could do, they could do better. The approach of what's-good-for-the-goose-is-even-better-for-the-gander has had its benefits, allowing women to break from roles traditionally created for them, but just as often it can serve to reinforce the whore/Madonna dichotomy that stretches back to long before Chuck Berry fashioned the first rock and roll song.

With this, incomplete, history of women in rock music I've come to Best Coast's debut album, Crazy for You, with some trepidation. Lead singer Bethany Cosentino has a penchant for writing songs about lounging and longing that stand in stark contrast to the pioneers of women in rock. Instead of making lyrics like "Take another little piece of my heart" sound like a challenge, Cosentino sings as if she spent the entire album holding onto her paramour's pants legs as he strolled out the door. On the opener, "Boyfriend," she sings, "I hope that he's at home / Waiting by his phone"; later, on "Goodbye," she croons "Every time you leave this house / Everything falls apart"; and, finally, on "Bratty B," she pleads "Pick up the phone / I wanna talk about how / I miss you so much." It's not that there aren't plenty of examples of guys pining over girls in songs, but has there ever been an album with this much self-destructive longing? Cosentino has avoided the whore and Madonna stereotypes only to fall firmly into the just as damaging archetype of the crazy girlfriend.

The songs themselves are reasonably catchy throwbacks to early rock and 60s girl groups. Like most musicians who trade in retro styles, Best Coast play up the difference between the pristine Leave it to Beaver image of the past the internet ravaged present. For her part, Cosentino presents herself as stewing in a cloud of marijuana and codependence. Likewise, much like some of those early pop songs, here the sentiments are as simple as the rhymes. It would be tempting, then, to read Best Coast's mix of longing and dependence as a critique of those classic songs, revealing to the reader the kind of damage that music inflicted on the image of women. The only problem with this take on Best Coast is that it's a complete misreading of some of the best girl group songs. When Dionne Warwick sings "Walk on by" to her ex, she's asserting the fact that pain is temporary just as much as she concedes that she has spilled more than a few tears since he has left. Cosentino concedes much more than she asserts, and I suppose your enjoyment of Crazy for You depends on how much time you've spent sitting by the phone waiting for the girl in Biology class to ring you up.

Look at the cover of this record. Look at the title of this record. Look at the name of the band. And hey, listen to this record, even. No, there's nothing new or unique about Best Coast and their debut record, Crazy For You. The record streamed in advance on Urban Outfitter's website; Bethany Cosentino, the gal who writes, sings and plays guitar in Best Coast, looks like an actor playing a rocker chick in a movie that would surely star Juno; and Bobb Bruno, Cosentino's partner in crime, looks like a million other California stoner dudes who play guitar and wear ironic T-shirts and glasses. The lyrics discuss important things like hanging out, boys, boredom, weed and summer fun throughout the record's 12 pop-rock cuts. It's gross. Seriously, this is a gross record. Even the irony-drenched cover brings the gags.

Just kidding. I absolutely love Best Coast's debut record, Crazy For You, even if it seems like the most obvious summer indie record ever made. I like it because, unlike most of the hip records out this year, it's not a weird record. It sounds almost exactly like that band Girls (also from California), but with a girl singer and a whole lot more consistency. When describing the record to a friend, I said the following: "No, no, shut up dude! Crazy For You reminds me of that first Strokes record - the one with the hand and the butt and the glove. No, dummy, it doesn't sound like the Strokes. Are you seriousl! LOL! I mean, they could tour together, but it doesn't sound like the Strokes. LOL! Mostly, it's just that it's a super obvious, been there/done that record that is too good to deny. Seriously, dude, you just gotta hear it a couple of times. It's like that band The Tyde, from a few years ago, but actually good. Or kind of like a sister to that new Wavves record."

Said friend zoned out on me somewhere during the babble; I've not heard from him since. I figure he's either A) totally obsessed with Crazy For You; B) taking a break from our friendship; or C) scoping out AA programs and planning my intervention. Any way you look at it, I did my job. The dude has good taste, and will thus find his way to Best Coast one way or another because, make no mistake, Best Coast made a phenomenal first record. This is the sound of my summer, and surely many others - no shame in sight.

I know what you're thinking - Dum Dum Girls. All Girl Summer Fun Band. Vivian Girls. Times New Viking. All that stuff. Nope, not this one. I've heard all those bands and all those records, and none compare to the fuzzy summer stoner anthems of Crazy For You. The ingredients are simple: imaginary girlfriend vocals; pseudo-surf vibes; Bill Murray and Thurston Moore as super fans; awesomely lazy riffs that echo and bounce; simple drum and bass that never gets in the way; four or more hooks per song; a whole lot a moments that will remind you of your favorite late-90s indie bands; and, of course, Cosentino, who is about as alluring as they come (fyi, I've never seen the girl, only heard her sing). There's also that whole laid-back California vibe, but nothing here really matters more than how many hooks and melodies Cosentino crams into this record. This is pop music. Very cool, very addicting pop music, not at all unlike that first Strokes record. Cut the fat; add some fuzz; nail the hooks; press record; repeat.

You'll hear these songs in movies for years to come, no doubt. Indie rock high school boys will have a new crush and their girlfriends will have a new hero. This is the record that will be made into a T-shirt and pop up as a point of discussion in a movie starring Jonah Hill, Jesse Eisenberg or Scott Pilgrim. It's a better version of that pretty great Harlem record, Hippie, that got a lot of attention a few months ago. Seriously, as crazy as it sounds, this is a minor classic in the making, and deserving so.

To recap: Juno; surfer/stoner; girlfriend vocals; hooks; Girls; California; fuzz; Bill Murray; and melodies. And that's about it. The lyrics aren't deep or complex ("I want you soooo much"; "I'm happy / I'm happy / I'm happy / You make me happy"; "The world is lazy but you and me, we're just crazy / But when I'm with you, I have fun / When I'm with you, I have fun" etc.), but they always work. And the playing is at all times about as simple as your least favorite local band. But somehow, this record just works. It's fun and easy and undeniable. Records like this don't come out often, not since The Ramones lost their touch. Yep, I'll admit it: I'm in love with Best Coast, even if this is the only record they ever make that's worth listening to, which is very likely.

I have to be honest. I originally purchased this album as a joke. I read all of the lyrics, and the entire album was meant for my boyfriend and I to laugh at. But I started listening to the album out of curiosity and fell in love after the third listen. I am at times reminded of Liz Phair. Their voices are very similar, but the sound is incredibly different. The themes are similar, some of it heartbreak, some of it fear, but I don't think Best Coast reaches the darkness Phair had in the early nineties. Some songs like "Honey" have this very beautiful feeling of being covered in darkness, but what's surprising is that the message is positive. She's in love, and she wants to be with someone all the time.

There are other songs that have the feeling of being upbeat, but the lyrics prove otherwise. "I lost my job, I miss my mom, I wish my cat could talk..." But even in those moments of crumbling deterioration, Best Coast manages this very beautiful and upbeat tone. Things are falling apart, but it only matters that she loves someone dearly and wants to be with them all the time.

The album goes by fast. You're enjoying one moment, and it's immediately replaced by another, and this is what makes me listen to the album on a constant basis. I want to capture that same emotion before it goes to the next.

This album isn't about complicated love. It's upbeat and meant to be danced to, and I love it for those very reasons. It takes the term "love song" to a completely new meaning. It's celebrating what it means to fall in love with someone without making it trite or cliche.

If you liked the Vivian Girls' first LP, this is a no-brainer. It's very Californian, as probably every review that's been written on it has mentioned, in the way that Pavement's Crooked Rain Crooked Rain is, but it's got a taste of the Ramones in there also -- a few songs are in the mold of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and that kind of stuff. It's a good album for put on when you're out on your skateboard and the night is just humming, like the Pavement song says. I wish the Vivian Girls' second album had been this good, but then again, life is a veil of tears.

I was introduced to Best Coast this winter, at the time all that was available were demos and one EP that sounded unfinished. I was pretty dismissive of it at the time, it sounded just like all the other lo-fi California bands getting endlessly hyped. This summer I heard "Boyfriend" the delightfully desperate single of Best Coast's first album, and I was hooked. I literally wore that track out, I probably listened to it 100 times the first week. It was sad and catchy and simple and just the best. When I listened to the full album Crazy For You, I was delighted to find that almost all the tracks sounded identical to Boyfriend. The whole album reads like a single chick's diary and it is awesome and embarrassing and feels honest and free from pretension.

Every song on CFY washes over you, making it an easy album to listen to again and again. BC is influenced by the same 60s sound as She & Him, but their rough around the edges interpretation makes it all the more listenable. There's something about hearing Bethany Cosentino coo about smoking weed, and cuddling with cats that's totally refreshing and fun. As far as I'm concerned CFY is the soundtrack to the summer, and I have come to LOVE Best Coast even though Bethany is dating Nathan Williams ~_~.