Hailing from Philadelphia but with a distinctly Californian feel about them, Beach Slang have come up with a memorable debut album that is packed to the rafters with passionate odes and serves as a rallying call to misfits the world over.
‘Things People Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us’ rocks along on the back of layers of punk-tinged guitars and infectious melodies. After the noisy opening of ‘Throwaways’ and its straightforward mid tempo rock, the more measured ‘Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas’ comes along full of airy riffing and lazy pop sensibilities.
There’s a continual theme of music and alcohol as a way of dealing with problems that will no doubt appeal to the disenchanted of the world. ‘Break Guitars’ and ‘Noisy Heaven’ are all rousing guitar lines and they both rock intensely, while ‘Ride the Wild Haze’ has a hard driving sound and plenty for the kids: “I feel most alive when I’m listening to every record that hits harder than the pain.” The acoustic strum, delicate touches of piano and light orchestration of the lament ‘Too Late to Die Young’ is even more fuel for fucked up rock ‘n’ rollers.
It does start to wear a little thin by the second half of the record though, with ‘Porno Love’ and ‘Dirty Lights’ both falling a little flat, although the pure punk pop of ‘Hard Luck Kid’ hits the spot, despite its questionable sentiment of, "Why even try?” Even so, ‘Young and Alive’ is interesting and fervent with coolly-done percussion and stop-start riffing, the searing guitars and shout along refrain sure to make a great set closer.
All told, there’s plenty of quality punk-ish rock on display here and more than enough “we are the kids who won’t do what we’re told” sentiment for teenage earbuds to revel in.
3.5/5
‘Things People Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us’ by Beach Slang is released on 30th October on Big Scary Monsters.
Beach Slang links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Edward Layland (@EdwardLayland).
