Monday 22 February 2010



QBiM SPiNS: Beach House, Teen Dream

(photo: J. Nocito)

It’s been almost a month since Teen Dream was released, and the lack of a mention of Beach House on these pages shouldn’t be taken as a lack of interest on my part.  On the contrary, Teen Dream has been on regular rotation ’round  these parts, but I’ve hesitated putting my thoughts down for fear of being called out as a rookie Beach House fan.  Much like Hot Chip a few weeks back, Beach House have a very active and fanatic fan base, and they’re quick to jump on those who make any error in reporting on the band, or worse, anyone with some criticism.  So before I ventured any thoughts or commentary, I wanted to make sure I got things right.

Getting things right is very much what the duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally do throughout their third release (and first for Sub Pop).  I wasn’t familiar with the single version of  “Used To Be” they released in 2008, so I can’t comment on how the track has been improved upon or sabotaged (depending on your personal stance) but I can’t fathom how the band could have done any damage to the original as this song is by far one of the stands out on the album for me.  Teen Dream eschews a quiet confidence, a humble sense that Legrand and Scally know they’ve hit their stride and are not afraid to hold anything back.  That doesn’t mean that everything has been thrown into the mix.  The arrangements are uncluttered and light, giving Legrand’s sweet caressing vocals room to swim through the swirling organs and dreamlike tapestry of the music.  Their power comes in the negative spaces, the places where another band may have tried to fill the sonic palette with reverb, echoes, effects and flourishes for fear of losing the listeners interest.  Beach House leave blanks for the listener to fill in for themselves, or a place to simply pause and enjoy the experience as it is presented.

Upon initial listens, it doesn’t feel like there’s anything particularly special about the album, from a technical perspective or from a songwriting stance, but as you let each song unfold and experience Teen Dream as a whole, you realize that Beach House aren’t here to impress us with tricks and trickery, they’re here to shower us with their talent and the love of what they do.  “10 Mile Stereo” and “Norway” are just a couple of the tracks that have made me a believer in Beach House, but Teen Dream is an album greater than the sum of its parts.  It’s an early contender for sure, but I’m certain we’ll still be talking about this dream at the end of 2010.

MP3: Beach House “Norway”
Myspace: Beach House
Facebook: Beach House





by J. Di Gioia | 1 Comment »

This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “QBiM SPiNS: Beach House, Teen Dream”

uptight February 23rd, 2010 at 4:38 am

I sorta agree with the “bigger than the sum of its parts” bit, but Devotion had some great songs which more than made up for it being just equal to the sum of its parts. This album has no standouts to these ears, which means I’ve still got to work on it. :-)