One of the most popular genre’s in today’s musical environment has to be lo-fi. Tons of artists have had great success within the lo-fi genre. One can argue that bloggers and pitchfork have a lot to do with this sound. Lo-fi has pretty much become the most used indie sound, giving the artists a garage aesthetic that sounds “real”. Rather, it is an organic sound that many people have come to favor over the flossy and overproduced sound found in mainstream music.
My girlfriend has been enjoying the lo-fi genre this year just like myself, and one of the artists that she discovered before me is Best Coast (and she loves to remind me of that!) Best Coast is ex-Pocahaunted member, Beth Cosentino. Best Coast is most accurately described as California, beach lo-fi garage band. Their sound is totally California, which Beth Cosentino would have no problem admitting. Her love for California is unveiled equally in her lyrics as they are musically. She effortlessly creates a hazy atmosphere that practically transports the mind to California. There are elements of a retro girl group sound heard through Beth’s lyrics and specific style of singing. One of the best examples of this is the outstanding song “That’s The Way Boys Are”.
Best Coast is Beth Cosentino’s baby, as she writes the lyrics and most of the music. With that said, it should be noted that she gets a lot of help from her friend Bob Bruno in other areas of instrumentation and production. Together they are able to formulate a perfect balance between sounding lo-fi and pop. The hazy reverb and lo-fi production works to Best Coast’s advantage, really enhancing the sound that Best Coast is striving to achieve.
Best Coast has released a large amount of 7″ vinyl’s for various record labels (for more info on those, visit their myspace!), all of which equally deserve your ear.She has recorded some of my favorite songs of the year, all before an official album release! Pretty remarkable, and a sign of a great future! Best Coast have become one of my favorite new acts, and I am really anxious to see what else they have to offer us in the next decade! She is kicking off 2010 with the release of the Something In The Way 7″.
I have an interview with Beth scheduled in the upcoming days, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I leave you with two of my favorite Best Coast songs: The aforementioned “That’s The Way Boys Are” and Best Coast’s finest song to date, “When I’m With You”. I also included a stream for there newest song, “Something In The Way”:
[stream] : Best Coast – When I’m With You
[stream] : Best Coast – That’s The Way Boys Are
[stream] : Best Coast – Something In The Way:
Visit Best Coast @ Myspace & PreOrder the 7″ for Something In The Way
Justin — 31 Dec 09
Will thanks for posting a couple of Best Coast songs they’re my fav new band. Can’t wait to read yr interview with Beth.
WillDewBadley — 31 Dec 09
This just reminds me of the V&V article about the Top 3 Worst Things about Indie Music. I’m pretty sure Lo-fi was number 1…
Top 50 Songs Of 2009 | We All Want Someone To Shout For — 21 Jan 10
[...] I don’t know if I could write it any better than I already did, so read my post on Best Coast [...]
An Interview with: Best Coast | We All Want Someone To Shout For — 7 Feb 10
[...] are getting set to release their debut album this year, and you can read more about them in our post here. Beth gave us a minute of her time to give us a pretty laid back interview. You can tell that Beth [...]
Top 50 » Top 50 Songs Of 2009 — 8 May 10
[...] I don’t know if I could write it any better than I already did, so read my post on Best Coast [...]
Doug — 28 Jul 10
Is “lo-fi” a genre? I thought it was just a low-fidelity way of recording something