Album Review: Beach Slang - 'Broken Thrills'

28 May 2015 | 4:22 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

More please.

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There’s some music that takes you a while to get into, and then there’s Beach Slang, who have tunes so easy to gel with it’s almost suspicious. Their latest release ‘Broken Thrills’, a mini album comprising their first two seven inches, is a capsule of catchy, dancy and post-punky tunes that are practically edible. Honestly, it blends the best aspects of the genres it utilises and takes them to a new level, making it fly by in a breeze of spot-on jamming.

Suffice to say, it’s pretty damn impressive, with its only crime being that it’s not even close to long enough. There’s a slightly repetitious sound, but on this release, it just doesn’t matter. It’s light and dark; enjoyable, but not shallow.

Don’t let the positive-sounding guitar/drum/bass combo fool you, Beach Slang have depth. Opener ‘Filthy Luck’ reaffirms that, with lines including: “I gave you taste and a spine, now I hope you drown”. The lyrics on ‘Broken Thrills’ ring true in the style of Joyce Manor, and tracks like ‘Kids’ are the sonic embodiment of a bittersweet Summer afternoon.

Punk influences pervade on ‘Punk Or Lust’, which is representative of the community that Beach Slang have come from and that which they’re playing to, with the resonant assertion that “they" (presumably all others) "don’t know the power of amplifiers”. All Fuzzed Out’ is three minutes of guitars playing love notes, but if you’re not into that, ‘Dirty Cigarettes’ will make your heart dead set sore.

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Closer ‘We Are Nothing’ is an acoustic number (there’s always one, okay?) and it hits home more than any other tune, with a melancholically striking impact. This whole release is like the sigh you let go of when you get home from your first date and the sigh you heave when you cry after your first break-up. And it’s wonderful.

It’s hard to think of artists similar to Beach Slang, and that’s a compliment. In fact, it’s hard to even convey how good Beach Slang are. ‘Broken Thrills’ doesn’t let your eyes droop or allow you to put it down and walk away (or put your iPod down and walk away, or press ‘skip’). What we’re trying to say is that Beach Slang are onto something, and we can’t wait for more of it.

1. Filthy Luck

2. Kids

3. Get Lost

4. Punk or Lust

5. All Fuzzed Out

6. Dirty Cigarettes

7. American Girls And French Kisses

8. We Are Nothing