Best of 2010: #7 Beach House - Teen Dream

No one does languid better than Beach House. The California duo politely pack the entire aesthetic sense of Sofia Coppola’s Virgin Suicides into audio form. Not in the way that Air did on that films soundtrack, though that too. Somehow they take the Moog futurist keyboard textures of that band, the coked up high flying classic rock that balanced out the movie’s soundtrack, the lovelorn youthfulness, and the dark edges of the adult world. All that but without all the pretty young girls dying.

Here Beach House don’t blow up the store, thankfully. On their prior Devotion it seemed they’d perhaps reached the full potential of their sound but here it opens up in ways that never seemed possible. What once seemed claustrophobic and sounded undoubtedly like two people in a room attempting to sound fully orchestrated, now feels like a fully functional multilayered band who just happen to sound orchestral. The songs are better too. The triumph of songs “Norway”, “Walk in the Park”, “10 Mile Stereo”, even the staid “Zebra” almost makes their past accomplishments seem amateurish in hindsight.

The fact that this record has held as long as it has is a testament to it’s slow burn charm. “Norway” was released way back in November 2009, many fans myself included had the record before last Christmas. Here’s expecting if you put it on next year at this time it’ll still sound great.