Over 30 years ago The Ramones combined their love of 60s girl groups, surf rock, and bubblegum pop to straight ahead lyrics and sped the whole thing up. Voila, instant classics. In 2009 Bethany Cosentino returned home to LA after attending school in New York City and immediately started a new band with Bobb Bruno called Best Coast. The songs on the debut, Crazy For You share similar influences as The Ramones but with a dash of early 90s college rock thrown in for good measure. “Boyfriend” would not have sounded out of place leading off Liz Phair’s classic album, Exile in Guyville. The straightforward lyrics capture the uncertainty of liking someone while wondering how they feel, the worry of not measuring up and the dreaming of what it would be like to be with them. Entire novels are written about the same topics and “Boyfriend” manages to cover the same ground in under three minutes. Elsewhere, much has been said of the instant classic line of ‘I lost my job, I miss my Mom, I wish my cat could talk’ from “Goodbye”, another track that hits the slacker generation of the late 20th century square in the heart.
With most songs coming in at about two and a half minutes, they come fast and furious but will stick in your head for days. The entire album is held together by Cosentino’s wonderful voice which could hold its own with any of the great singers of the day for the past 40 years. There is a longing and something country like in many of the vocals especially in songs such as “Our Deal” and “I Want You”. It would not be surprising if in years to come, that is the direction that Cosentino follows similar to the path that Neko Case has walked in the past decade.
In the hands of others, this Keep It Simple Stupid approach would be of zero interest but with Best Coast it works wonders as they constantly hit the right notes. Without a week track on the album, Crazy for You holds up as one of the best albums of 2010. Would it have hit our Top 15 if listened to earlier? With a bullet.
9/10
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