Best Coast – and so she thinks

Upset – She's Gone

admin — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 11:48:52 +0000

Out on the fab Don Giovanni, She’s Gone by Upset is a great piece of girl punk, all rousing and energetic, angsty and charming in equal measures. Ali Koehler has stepped out from behind the drums in previous bands Vivian Girls and Best Coast to front Upset, creating a bit of supergroup with Jenn Prince (La Sera) and Patty Schemel (Hole). Taken from their new album of the same name, which you can buy now.

Best Coast – Fade Away

admin — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 12:02:40 +0000

Fade Away, the new EP or mini album (what’s in a name?) from Best Coast is something of a belter. Out October 22nd on Bethany Cosentino’s new Jewel City label the gritty and cooing vocals, rampant chords and trademark muted drums rollick along as they play tales of bittersweet experience and amorous angst. As always from the duo (Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno),, it’s a heart on the sleeve affair, with titles such as Fear of My Identity and Who Have I Become and lyrics like ‘Telling lies like it’s a big surprise / Now it’s time to say /Baby, goodbye’ on Telling Lies and ‘My heart is open like a door / But I don’t trust you like before / I don’t know who I am this year’ on Baby I’m Crying. Known for their summery effervescent vibes, this has a more autumnal and grown up chill to it, evoking russet leaves and a clear sky. It’s excellent, and you can listen below.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/12046555″ width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

Best Coast – Boyfriend

admin — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:57:28 +0000

My visit to the Indie Rock Café:
Hello, and welcome to my very first monthly write. Much like alcohol, (no matter how much we love it) it’s best to take it in small doses. Right! I recently logged on to the Indie Rock Café, (as I recommend you do) a fantastic bundle of unknown, known, heard and unheard of bands. So out of this huge bundle I’ve picked…Best Coast. The trio from LA made their debut in July 2010 with their album Crazy for You. However, they had released several EP’s in the previous years. Their most recent single was ‘Boyfriend’, a pretty awesome song with a catchy jingle and the best song you could listen to when your just sitting around doing this or the other (as I am now…) and not to mention the amazing beat and Bethany Cosentino’s voice. It quite frankly returns us to the most classic of indie, and I really do love the “Ah Ahhs” in the background!
All of the above give Best Coast a well deserved place in the cafe of Indie Rock and on the CD shelf.
– Antonia 🙂

Wichita is 10!

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:01:27 +0000

Ten years is a long time in the music industry. Ten years is an even longer time to remain successful in the music industry, but that‘s exactly what Wichita Recordings have done. Wichita have become one of the most influential labels around, having a roster of artists including The Cribs, Bloc Party (and now Kele), Los Campesinos, First Aid Kit, Conor Oberst and Best Coast. In celebration of their tenth anniversary Wichita hosted four days of gigs at The Garage. On Monday 12th July it was Lissy Trullie, Those Dancing Days & Young Legionnaire, followed on Tuesday by First Aid Kit, Peggy Sue & Meg Baird. Wednesday was the night of the big guns, with The Cribs, Sky Larkin & Lovvers, culminating in Los Campesinos, Frankie And The Heartstrings & Johnny Foreigner on Thursday.
It‘s All Happening were lucky enough to attend the final two gigs of the week. The Cribs, performing without Johnny Marr, played their first two albums ‘The Cribs‘ and ‘New Fellas‘ back to back, for a proper hot and sweaty old-school gig. It felt like it was 2005. It felt like I was 18. It felt brilliant. The crowd were on form too, and when Gary Jarman stated in his broad Yorkshire accent ‘I‘m surprised no one has made it on to the stage yet‖, the 630 strong sell out crowd quite rightly took this as a challenge. Unsurprisingly, the security became rather busy. Lovvers had earlier ripped through an enjoyable set to open up the Wednesday night. They were closely followed by Sky Larkin who, playing several new songs from the record ‘Kaleide‘, seem to improve every time they perform.
Just 24 hours later It‘s All Happening were back at The Garage to see a lively Los Campesinos set in which they cracked out some tunes that are rarely played live anymore (‘International Tweecore Underground‘ and ‘In Medias Res’), along with the usual favourites (such as ‘You! Me! Dancing!‘ and ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks‘). The seven piece are a fantastic live band and this performance reinforces that further. Los Campesinos were preceded by north east boys Frankie and The Heartstrings, who have been receiving rave reviews for their passionate performances, and Johnny Foreigner who opened the night with a energetic set that included being joined on stage by Gareth Los Campesinos for ‘Criminals‘.
Wichita have been inspirational, influential and incredible. All six bands over the two nights that we attended paid tribute to the label, and stated the impact Wichita had on their careers. Thank you Wichita – here‘s to another great ten years.
If you only own three albums from Wichita…
You will be missing out. But for now, start with these.
The Cribs: Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever
One of the best live bands you will ever see, and just as raw on record.
Los Campesinos: Hold On Now, Youngster…
Complex yet cerebal lyrics, knotted together with wonderfully spangly melodies. And it has You! Me! Dancing! on.
Best Coast: Crazy For You
Shamelessly simple yet wonderful sunny songs of love and longing