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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Pop Bands Around!, January 8, 2002
The Coast is Never Clear is one solid piece of work. So solid that even the bad songs are good. For those of you who weren't fans before this record, you really should give the band another chance becuase it's quite obvious that they have no intention of repeating themselves. As some of you know "Handsome Western States" was lo-fi, sloppy and oddly charming in an out of tune sort of way, and "Heartstrings" of course was the sweet, bubbly, orchestrated indie breakthrough a couple years ago. This record, however, keeps those same hooks and melodies intact but overall has a darker and more mellow agenda ie. they've grown up. These days Beulah is more like Wilco than the Apples in Stereo, which is a good thing in my opinion. The lyrics are amazing as usual, except this time they're far more emotional and less Pavementy. The instrumentation is fabulous, and if you use headphones you'll find yourself hearing new things for months to come. Overall it's just a really gorgeous and rewarding album.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A second album of pop masterpieces from a late great band, June 28, 2005
Of Beulah's four albums, three of them are flat out great. THE COAST IS NEVER CLEAR is the second of the three, not departing too far from the excellence of their previous gem WHEN YOUR HEARTSTRINGS BREAK. Both albums are full of luscious pop songs, driven by great hooks and frequently astonishing arrangements. Some of the sounds they employ in their songs are stunning and completely unexpected, but almost always delightful and gorgeous. For instance, in "Gene Autry," when bells are used in the bridge to the chorus and in the chorus itself. Bells? Beulah on both COAST and HEARTSTRINGS reminds me of the Beatles or perhaps Sam Phillips on her MARTINIS AND BIKINIS (produced by her husband T-Bone Burnett) in the way they manage to use a host of unexpected sounds and musical instruments to take the music to the next level. The result is a persistently surprising musical texture.
And the horns! On YOKO they would jettison the horns (though the music would be no less delightful despite that), but on this one Beulah continued to be one of the few great rock bands to successfully integrate horns into a band. A Chicago band (albeit via Austin, Texas), Poi Dog Pondering, somewhat resembled Beulah in having a very large and fluid membership (both bands at time could boast nearly twenty members) as well as a crack brass ensemble, but for my taste Poi Dog never quite matched Beulah in the quality of their songs.
The one dissonant note on the album is that the weakest number of the disc, the perplexing "Hello Resolven," starts things off. But once past that weak cut, it is one superb pop tune after another. Highlights include the stellar "A Good Man is Easy to Kill," which later inspired the title of the film made of their farewell tour, A GOOD BAND IS EASY TO KILL. Many of the reviews here cite "Gene Autry" as a highpoint, and I won't quibble with that, though I like the horns-driven "Silver Lining" even more. And "I'll Be Your Lampshade" has a nice country tilt. But really, except for the initial weak cut, I don't dislike a single song on the entire disc.
Anyone who loves power pop or alternative music should get this disc. Just because the band is gone doesn't mean their music can't live on.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Soon Is Now, August 19, 2002
Beulah does not, has not, and will probably never sound like the Beach Boys. In fact, any comparsion to the Beach Boys is unfair and misguided, not only to the Beach Boys, but also to Beulah. With that said, if you're looking for a retro inspired Pet Sounds wannabe pop album, look elsewhere. While Beulah is definitely influenced by the Beach Boys, they do not live in the sixties and are definitely linked more to the early 90's indie sounds of Pavement, GBV, Superchunk, Treepeople, and Archers of Loaf. What makes them unique then, is their ability to keep indie rock alive by infusing new elements such as horns, strings, keyboards, asian instrumentation, touches of jazz, bossanova, country etc. to a genre that had only known fuzzy guitars and odd tunings. This is what makes Beulah remarkable. They are in essence a garage band playing orchestrated indie rock.The songs on "Coast" are first rate, but if I had to highlight one thing on this record it would be the production. Put on your headphones and listen. For each song every verse, chorus, and bridge is like a mini song all by itself. Instruments cut in and out throughout the record seemlessly. At first it seems so organic and natural that you don't realize how much care and effort went into each part. This band did not just go into a studio and start jamming. So much is going on in every song it's hard to believe they were able to pull it off. Most bands have trouble making sure the drums don't overpower the bass and the vocals don't kill the guitar melodies. With Beulah, strings run into horns, harmonies glide over pianos, vibes race past pedal steel guitars and sitars, and it all sounds like it was meant to go together. To oversimplify, they sound like a band. To repeat, ignore the Beach Boys comparisons, forget the sixties, and just listen. The future is now.
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