Seen live: Best Coast + No Joy + Sonny & The Sunsets

I am a lucky girl. I have attended some great concerts during the past few months, and Tuesday night's live music outing featuring Best Coast, No Joy and Sonny & The Sunsets at the Rhythm Room kept the streak alive.

Shoegazers No Joy opened the show with thumping guitars and lo-fi sonic tastiness. The band opted to let the music speak, rather than directly interacting with the crowd. I usually enjoy getting to see band's personalities via their banter with fans, but in this case the music was all I needed to hear. It was that good.

Sonny & The Sunsets then transported everyone back to 1962 with their take on doo-wop and surf rock. The San Francisco foursome were upbeat and a great lead-in to the main event.

And the reason the show was marked on the calendar for months didn't disappoint. I finally got to see the lo-fi goodness that is Best Coast in person and they were amazing. Even though Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno didn't play my two fave tunes, the California-crazed duo performed almost all of their full-lengh debut. I would've preferred to hear more of the earlier singles, but they chose the best songs from "Crazy For You."

After the show, the fiance and I got to meet No Joy's Laura and Jasmine (who experienced Spokane's sketchiness first-hand on Halloween) and Best Coast's Bobb (who thanked me like eight times for coming out to the show). They were all so down-to-earth and fun. Yeah for Phoenix's music scene.

Best Coast set list:

1. Bratty B

2. Crazy For You

3. Sun Was High (So Was I)

4. The End

5. Far Away

6. Summer Mood

7. Boyfriend

8. Our Deal

9. When The Sun Don’t Shine

10. Goodbye

11. This Is Real

12. Wish He Was You

13. I Want To

14. When I’m With You

15. Something In the Way

16. Each and Every Day

Encore:

17. That’s The Way Boys Are

See more of my live show experiences here.

The wait is over

I finally get to see Best Coast live. Tonight. At 8 p.m. Right up the road from the townhouse. In a rad venue. Stoked.

But first, potential jury duty. Ugh. Wish me luck.

[via]

In rotation: M.I.A. + Best Coast + Gun Outfit + Titus Andronicus + Small Black + OutKast

There has been no shortage of music this summer. Some my recent iPod additions, old and new, include ...

M.I.A.: "/\/\ /\ Y /\"

One of the most anticipated albums of the year leaked early, and blew me away from beginning to end. The UK-born Sri Lankan war child turned superstar's third release has received mixed reviews. Pitchfork destroyed it after hyping ish up like they always do, while Pop & Hiss, Paste, Spin and Rolling Stone loved it. Stereogum was on the fence.

Top tracks:

"XXXO"

"Tell Me Why"

"Steppin' Up"

"Lovealot"

"Born Free"

Best Coast: "Crazy For You"

I was completely amped for California lo-fi pop outfit Best Coast's debut full-length offering. So you can imagine my sheer delight when it leaked last week. Unfortunately, after a few listens, it has fallen well short of expectation. 

While still a fun record, the noticeable lack of fuzzed-out, doo-wop sound that shot Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno up my list of favorite new artists was disappointing. Many of the songs blend together and the lack of variety in the songwriting gets boring. Detractors who thought Bethany only sounded good because of the layers of distortion were proven wrong. Her voice is reminiscent of a young Neko Case. I'll still keep playing "Crazy For You," but I can only hope Best Coast revisit their earlier sound later down the road.

Listen to the entire album here.

Top tracks:

"Boyfriend"

"Summer Mood"

"Our Deal"

"I Want To"

"Honey"

 

Gun Outfit: "Possession Sound"

Olympia, Washington has produced yet another solid group. These three-piece rockers' simple sound is carried by driving guitar riffs and slow-burning vocals.

Top tracks:  

"New Love Thunders" 

"Wide Awake" 

"Fantasy World"

Titus Andronicus: "The Monitor"

These punk-influenced indie rockers from New Jersey like their music loud, thrashing and heavy hitting. Couple that with a bit of a history lesson and you get their second release, a concept album loosely based on the Civil War.

The record swells to an hour playing time via 10 songs that reflect influences ranging from Conor Oberst to Bruce Springsteen to Flogging Molly.

Their energetic albums, hopefully, will translate to an amazing live show. I'll find out when they make an appearance in Phoenix on Sept. 3.

Top tracks:  

"A More Perfect Union"

"Richard II Or Extraordinary Popular Dimensions And The Madness Of Crowds (Responsible Hate Anthem)"

"A Pot In Which To Piss" 

"To Old Friends And New"

 Small Black: Small Black EP

Found via my recommendations by last.fm, Small Black is an emerging band from Brooklyn who desribe their music as "acousmatic, tape music, concrete and pop.” While we wait for their debut album to drop this fall, the chillwavers build off the crackly, fuzzy, electronic sound cultivated by Toro y Moi, Washed Out, Surfer Blood and Real Estate with their self-titled ep.

Top tracks:  

"Despicable Dogs" 

"Bad Lover"

"Lady In the Wires"

OutKast: Aquemini

Atlanta's premiere purveyors of "crunk music" have gone their separate ways ... for now. In the meantime, the Dirty South duo's 1998 release still stands the test of time 12 years later.

Andre 3000 and Big Boi talk about the making of "Aquemini" here.

Top tracks:  

"Da Art Of Storytellin' (Part 2)" 

"Rosa Parks" 

"SpottieOttieDopaliscious" 

"Skew It On The Bar-B"

Best Coast makes my summer dreams come true

[Source]

Break out those beach blankets because the West Coast's summer soundtrack arrives July 27. The California duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno, better known as Best Coast, are finally releasing their first full-length album. 

Boasting 12 unreleased songs, "Crazy For You" hopefully will build off the lush, fuzzed-out sound we've come to expect from the group's slew of EPs and singles released this past year.

[Source]

Track listing:

1. Boyfriend
2. Crazy for you
3. The End
4. Goodbye
5. Summer Mood
6. Our Deal
7. I Want To
8. When The Sun Don’t Shine
9. Bratty B

10. Honey
11. Happy
12. Each and Everyday
Bonus track: 
When I’m With You

Sounding like a love letter to California, their version of lo-fi takes a page from the Beach Boys' brand of surf rock with catchy hooks and doo-wop influence. Best Coast stays true to West Coast form, singing about boys, weed, love and sunny days. Perfect for a drive down the PCH or soaking up the atmosphere at Pismo.

Listen now: In My Room,  Up All Night,  So Gone, Sun Was High (So Was I), Our Deal

Stripped-down version of "Up All Night"

 

Even more good ish:

Best Coast on Last.fm

Best Coast on MySpace

SXSW 2010 set