Beach House

Beach House - Teen Dream

I have to admit, I had not heard anything by Beach House before Teen Dream. I am now very embarrassed. Teen Dream is a near flawless album. I am not over-exaggerating when I say this. Teen Dream is all about establishing mood and atmosphere, and Beach House does it as well as anyone. "Walk in the Park" illustrates why Teen Dream works so well. This stand-out track is the dreamiest of the dreamy songs on this album. "Walk in the Park" has you floating through outer space with its tinkling synths and lush, yet distorted vocals. It is music robots would make out to. From the great opener "Zebra", to the warped synth of "Norway", Beach House has you experiencing love, outer space style; and it is a feeling I could really get to.

Grade: A

New Reviews

Bear with me people. I have a ton of new music to get through and will have new reviews for Joanna Newsom, Shearwater, Lightspeed Champion, Titus Andronicus, Owen Pallet, Surfer Blood, and Zeus (just to name a few). Hopefully, I can crank these out and let the masses know what goodness awaits.

Local Natives

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

Gorilla Manor is the debut album from new indie buzz band, Local Natives. Bringing in a blend of Jump Little Children and Fleet Foxes, this LA band can really, really sing and harmonize well. With the 1-2-3 punch of opening tracks "Wide Eyes", "Airplanes", and "Sun Hands", these guys had me completely hooked, which made for what happened next very disappointing. Like most albums released today it is very top-heavy, and sadly the album quickly peetered out and started slogging along with forgetable and completely interchangable songs. Not until the final two tracks, "Stranger Things" and "Sticky Thread" do Local Natives get back to some of the magic they created with the opening tracks. Gorilla Manor (ridiculous name, by the way) is a decent enough album and Local Natives do show a lot of potential. Once these guys find their sound, they will produce some great songs.

Grade: B-