Scene-famous boyfriends, a quote-generating Twitter feed, scuffles with bloggers, and the most meme-generating feline since Keyboard Cat got carpal tunnel: Yeah, it’s safe to say Bethany Cosentino, who writes and records with cohort Bobb Bruno as Best Coast, is a long way away from her days as a member of drone/psych outfit Pocahaunted. Best Coast’s full-length debut, Crazy for You, serves only to increase that distance from the outré-music scene; the brief record delivers on the promise of a strong string of singles released over the past year. Just as Pocahaunted loosely capture the basic feel of dub and reggae, Crazy for You is a meditation on the stickier hooks of classic indie pop, with slight detours into surf-rock (“Bratty B”) and countrypolitan balladry (“Our Deal”). While Pocahaunted cover their signifiers under piles of static and delay-triggered noise, Best Coast take the opposite route, slathering honey over every song and letting them drip-dry in the sunshine.
The record’s overall gorgeousness has a whole lot to do with Cosentino’s voice, which hits every pitch with equal clarity and intention of tone. Good thing, too, since Crazy For You is an especially vocal-heavy record; excluding the bonus track “When I’m With You”, there are few moments here where Cosentino’s voice isn’t featured. She backs herself wordlessly, fills in non-verbal gaps (especially in the California-highway chorus of “When the Sun Don’t Shine”), and repeats simple sentiments like mantras (“I wish he was my boyfriend,” “I want you so much,” “That’s not your deal, that’s not my deal”).
That last function has become a sticking point for many who complain that, as a lyricist, Cosentino lacks a certain depth and overall intelligence. It’s true that she’s not exactly the Randy Newman of the beach-pop game– there’s a few too many “crazy/lazy” rhyme schemes, and feel free to snicker at the “I wish my cat could talk” line from “Goodbye”. But it’s easy to miss that, just as these songs are relatively basic in construction, she’s never aimed for any sort of lyrical grandiosity– just feelings, presented as straightforwardly as possible.
Simply put, she knows what she’s doing– and, lo and behold, there’s more lyrical complexity to this record than a fault-seeking light listen would glean. Just when you think you’ve gotten the point of “Boyfriend”, Cosentino flips the script and reveals that she isn’t just envious– she feels inadequate, too: “The other girl is not me/ She’s prettier and skinnier/ She has a college degree/ I dropped out when I was 17.” In “The End”, she verges on nihilistic, admitting in the song’s chorus that she’ll ruin it all permanently for temporary wish fulfillment: “You say that/ We’re just friends/ But I want this/ Till the end.” She’s not being submissive or simple-minded– she’s being honest, and regardless of sweeping appeal, it’s endearing that she puts herself out there instead of throwing on some sunglasses and using irony as UV protection.
“Endearing” is the key word that comes to define Crazy for You; while most of the guitar-based indie pop that’s made waves over the past few years has been characterized by scenester antagonism and attempts to fit in (Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts, Beach Fossils), this record is carefree and instantly likable– even if it doesn’t seem to care what you think of it. Just as you don’t have to be into bong rips and strains of Indo to laugh at Cosentino’s 140-character riffs on Katy Perry and True Blood, even the least indie-inclined of listeners can find plenty to love here. It may be a summer album by design (I mean, for Christ’s sake– that cover), but I’ll place my bet that Crazy for You will sound pretty great all damn year, and beyond.
— Larry Fitzmaurice, July 27, 2010