Best Coast - Always Tomorrow (Review)
The most boringly generic helping of indie rock...
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21st February 2020
Concord
My Rating:
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2.9
/10
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REVIEW
I get the feeling that this album is supposed to impress me a lot.
I first said this when I very briefly covered it in an indie recap, but the feeling has only grown as the album has totally failed to capture me with time. Musically, it's just incredibly lacklustre, lacking anything other than the generic, pretty guitar work that comes with literally every similar indie act, thus failing to be at all distinctive.
One thing I won't deny is the certain profanity of the writing that speaks to the experience the band have as lyricists, and yet much like the instrumentals I'm struggling to find a single song I'd ever listen to exclusively for the lyrics. Yes, they're clever, but are they at all interesting? No. If you want a new perspective on this kind of music then Sharon Van Etten's latest album is an excellent example of doing this right.
Breaking down the instrumentals, I'm confronted with all too much of the same: the chugging guitars are monotonous and dull, predictable and unfulfilling, whilst the vocals are bright and poppy but lack a lot of the grit or resolve that could have helped sell the lyrics, the brand of optimistic singing of melancholic lyrics being a trope way overdone at this point and presenting another way in which this is a lazy, unchallenging album. On top of this, the synthesizers add to the feel of a basic, entry level album; their dated, unecessary sounds add nothing to the mix and feel flat and squashed under the overcompressed guitars and reverb laden vocals. I didn't even notice the drums the entire album, save for the marching fills on "True" and the frustrating, crunchy kicks on "Seeing Red".
I have nothing left to say.
Which is, at least, more than the album had.
TRACK RATINGS (/10)
1. Different Light - 2
2. Everything Has Changed - 6
3. For The First Time - 3
4. Graceless Kids - 3
5. Wreckage - 2
6. Rollercoaster - 2
7. Master Of My Own Mind - 2
8. True - 2
9. Seeing Red - 3
10. Make It Last - 3
11. Used To Be - 2
BREAKDOWN
Ambition: 1
Atmosphere: 4
Catchiness/Enjoyability: 3
Content/Ideas: 1
Emotion/Engaging: 4
Execution: 2
Production: 4
Structure: 3
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Lyrics: 4
Vocals/Flows: 3
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Total: 29
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