Beach Fossils
Clash The Truth
Captured Tracks [2013]
Captured Tracks [2013]
As much as I relish the chance to pan any and all current bands as hackneyed, self-important bores, there is a shortlist of bands who by my standards can do no wrong. Tobacco, Why?, Tame Impala, and Bon Iver routinely make this seldom requested list, but Beach Fossils are always first on my lips. Dustin Payseur's obvi-Brooklyn pop project intrinsically connected with me from the moment I first heard it and basically they've never made a song I didn't like. Though not as stripped down as 2010's self titled debut, or as immediately emotional as 2011's What A Pleasure, Clash the Truth is an honest and admirable addition to an overflowing and rightly suspect genre. Album opener "Clash the Truth" is intriguingly familiar in it's chanting (and incredibly familiar in it's gentle theft of "Pretty Vacant") and sets the stage perfectly for the remaining thirteen tracks. Beach Fossils' strength has always been their ability to meld obvious influence and organic personal inspiration. A track-by-track breakdown seems unnecessary, "Generational Synthetic" and "Careless" stand out though the entire collection is strong, and I'm becoming slowly obsessed by the spoken "um" which introduces closer "Crashed Out". Dreamy, jangly pop is beautiful when it's done right, and Beach Fossils do it better than anyone. In short, it's make out music for the loneliest kids in town, and who can't get behind that?
