Surf rock duo Best Coast released their fourth studio album on Feb. 21. Aside from a children’s album released in 2018, this is it’s first traditional album in nearly five years. The 11 track album “Always Tomorrow” is a fantastic mixture of fast paced alternative rock and emotional, slow, slightly monotone indie-pop.
Best Coast is a Los Angeles based indie surf rock duo composed of songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. They have been working together as Best Coast since 2009 and have created four full length albums and a few EPs.
In previous albums, the subject matter has been lighthearted, with typical references to sunny days with friends. Every so often, an emotional song is sprinkled in, but never anything too serious. This album is a 180 degree flip from that. Every song holds a message of Cosentino’s profound internal truths: working too hard burning out of creative ideas, fear of the future and taking control of her destiny through sobriety as well as personal life experiences and lessons. Despite the change in tone of the lyrics, the instrumentals and vocals match the signature easygoing Best Coast style.
Cosentino and Bruno spent nearly five years working on the album, but the stories behind each song dive into the last decade. It is a culmination of 10 years of life changes and personal discoveries for Cosentino. This self-discovery came from time on global tours with Best Coast, dark thoughts, painful heartbreak and newfound sobriety. Cosentino has been documenting her journey through sobriety in the public eye for several years and her commitment shines through in a few of the tracks on this album.
The opening track and one of the singles off the album, “Different Light” includes fast paced electric guitar and drums with monotone singing. It opens with a soft, melodic and repeated “ahhh’s” backed by a guitar playing the same repeated chord, which sets the tone of the rock indie-esque mix of intense alternative instrumentals and the emotional dream pop lyrics. The chaotic and fast drum solos, occasional guitar riffs and the monotone tone of Cosentino’s voice hint to an alternative rock song but the slow but steady tempo is reflective of a much more casual indie-surf-rock bop. The lyrics depict a love story gone astray with clashing perspectives.. “Can’t believe I see these things with my own eyes/ Guess before, I thought of only things bein’ in black and white/ Who am I to judge if you still see things in a different light?” Cosentino sings.
“For The First Time,” is incredibly reminiscent of the 1980s with angsty lyrics and bouncy guitar. The premise of the song is nearly the entire plot of a traditional coming of age film, including a dramatic personality change and a complicated love affair, vocally comparable to The Bangles’s “Manic Monday.” “I finally feel free /I feel like myself again/ but for the first time/ and no offense to you but I’m doin’ fine,” Cosentino sings. The lyrics depict a deep growth that caused two people to drift apart quickly, but instead of regretting the change she accepts the growth and embraces it.
Matching its title, “Seeing Red” is by far the most angry and emotional of all of the songs on the album. The music is somber with heavy drums and guitar that perfectly match the subject matter of the lyrics. In the opening lyrics, Cosentino sings, “You hurt me again/ I guess that it’s my fault/ for trying to be your friend/ and I’m all alone again.” It is bitter and angry with a hint of perpetual angst. Cosentino goes back and forth between a melancholy drawl and an angry chant. The chants are meant to add emphasis to her words of anger and hurt while the melancholy drawl adds to her words of remorse and mourning over the loss of a relationship. This song perfectly depicts the end of a toxic relationship with anger, sadness, regret and self blame.
In “Graceless Kids,” Cosentino sings in a spoken word like chant, conveying a message of hope and empathy to those who feel confused and lost. “Who am I to keep preaching/ To the graceless kids of tomorrow?/ They need a hero, not a wreck,” Cosentino sings alongside an electric guitar.
In support of this album, Best Coast will be doing a tour across the United States from now until early April. They are currently scheduled to perform at Portland’s Wonder Ballroom on March 2 with special guest Mannequin Pussy. Although the album is relatively repetitive in its melodies, it is still fitting within the duo’s discography and takes strides in genuinely impactful lyrics.
