Best Coast's debut album Crazy For You was the perfect soundtrack to summer 2010, propelling lead singer Bethany Cosentino into the heights of alt-female idolatry.
Her songs revolve around boys, weed, cats and sunshine, and it’s this straightforward narrative combined with her infectious guitar hooks that has secured her a place in the hearts of fans as an indie darling. With fellow band members Ali Koehler and Bobb Bruno, Cosentino crafted some of last year’s catchiest lo-fi lullabies.
A year on and summer 2011 is coming to its end, though not before the band play to a devoted crowd in the trendy Bongo Club. After a laid-back surf-pop set from Yorkshire’s supporting Spectrals, the Los Angeles trio take to the stage. The audience instantly warm to a grinning Cosentino as she utters a friendly “hey guys”. Without a further word the band energetically begins with early fan favourite Wish He Was You.
Pausing rarely to speak the band zoom through a fast-paced set, airing old unreleased songs like Sun Was High (So Was I) as well as stand-out album tracks Our Deal and Goodbye. The yearningly melancholic Boyfriend is played halfway through the set and it’s a definite highlight.
Whilst critics accuse Cosentino of being an elementary lyricist, it’s the earnestly heart-wrenching truth found in songs like Boyfriend (“if only I could get her out of the picture, then he would know how much I want him”) that endear you to the band (and Bethany).
Simplistic rhyming is heavily relied upon in many of their songs but it seems petty to raise complaint when it works so well.
Cosentino’s vocals are not to be under-estimated. Her lazy Californian drawl, though not the most versatile, glides over the music seamlessly, with more than a hint of 1960s nostalgia.
Instructing the Tuesday night crowd to “party like it’s the weekend; go nuts”, Cosentino steps it up a notch for the final few songs – When I’m With You particularly goes down a storm. Banging a tambourine in time with Koehler’s drums, her attitude and passion echo a younger, more wholesome Courtney Love. Finishing on a rousing rendition of Each And Every Day, the band leave the crowd in high spirits. Winter might be just around the corner, but Best Coast are sure to survive for many summers to come.
HHHH
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