Beach House certainly weren't the first to bust out the retro synths and easy going beats in the dream pop scene, but I think we can all agree that they're basically governing it by now. Since their 2006 self-titled debut, this duo has been churning out a consistent line of dreamy melodies, characterized by simple beats, blissful guitar lines, and lead-singer Victoria Legrand's vocals, which I can only describe as a crossover of the soul of Robert Plant and the rasp of Janis Joplin (though not quite as raspy). Bloom starts out with a beat that sounds like it was made by randomly selecting a couple drum packs from Fruity Loops (pretty off-putting at first), and then the familiarity immediately flows back with those first reverb-packed guitar notes. As the song continues, it's pretty apparent that Beach House are exactly who they were a year ago. The rest of the record pretty much plays out as you would expect from these guys, with nothing to really throw you off. If anything changed, I guess it would be that the beats here are even more basic, but that's why they work so well with the songs. The record sort of plays like a filter. All of the watery stuff gets flushed out and forgotten, while the stuff that holds weight and substance remains to swirl around in the back of our minds happily. Moments like this include Myth, the euphoric opening of Lazuli, the distant guitar on On the Sea, where Victoria seems like she's really getting into it, The Hours, and Wishes. Also Irene, the warm 7-minute conclusion, has a strangely pleasant one-note-drive in the middle that you would think would get monotonous quick, but ends up making the track a whole lot better.
While the positives outweighing the negatives, Bloom doesn't exceed my expectations, but it certainly takes 50 minutes of my life and shows it a good time. Sure it's essentially their previous albums with a different face, but honestly, I'm perfectly fine with that. They've found their niche in the music scene, and they're still rocking, or rather "popping" it with all they've got.
-Julian
Where did you get hold of this? Just got into them and really enjoying Teen Dream at the moment, looking forward to this one
ReplyDeleteUm from the internet. That's the place to go these days for music.
DeleteI love Beach House but this new album is really disappointing,comes nowhere close to Teen Dream or Devotion.
ReplyDeleteI want to disagree, but so far the only tracks I've heard are the two on this blog, Myth, and On the Sea. Love all 4. Just as good, if not better than anything on Teen Dream. Devotion as well. Which brings me to the point... where did you hear the rest of the album?? ;)
DeleteA mate of mine heard it last night and said it sounded like a batch of lesser tracks that could have been left off Teen Dream. Still looking forward to hearing it tho'.
DeleteI guess if I had to review this review, I would say that it was pretty much really sort of not really very important. Your fluffy filler words are frustrating as fuck.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Thank you. Thought I was crazy for a minute but reading this was like trying to talk with a mouth full of novocaine.
DeleteIt really sounds like bunch of outtakes from Teen Dream era which is kind of sad.
ReplyDeleteIt really sounds like bunch of outtakes from Teen Dream era which is kind of sad.
ReplyDeletethought the same thing at first. then it grows on you. just like every other beach house track/album. and it grows. then it takes over your brain. The comments in the review about the drums is just plain wrong. They are bigger than ever on this album, and the use of a strong base line after the amazing one note breakdown, makes the song. It's easy to look past Beach House if you don't put headphones on and let the melodies take over, giving it multiple listens, but once you do, the hooks get in you and you are off to whatever mystic world only Beach House can take you to. This album is going to suffer from the expectations created by Teen Dream, but I found it completely rewarding.
ReplyDeleteI got into beach house in 2008 with their first album and I still think the first two are the best. but i love them so much that i'll give anything they put out a solid chance. 'teen dream' really grew on me even tho at first i didn't like it since it was so clearly a departure from their cob-webby, lo-fi basement-studio sound, but it became obvious that all the songs were the same, just dusted off and polished a bit..but had the same beach house heart and soul. so i'm stoked for the new album.
ReplyDeletethe album feels like it needs to be listened to start to finish without any interruptions. in that sense, i think they picked the track order well. I am really into it. headphones are a must.
ReplyDeleteThis album rewards repeated listening, like all their others. I've listened to pretty much only this for a week and I love it, especially Wishes, The Hours, On The Sea, and of course Myth. Looking forward to some videos coming out hopefully. I think this one will grow on you if you give it a chance.
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