BEACH HOUSE – Norway (7″, Bella Union)
Posted: February 24th, 2010, by JGRAMI used to have an online buddy hailing from Norway. In fact I feel when she disappeared from the cyber world I actually lost a potential love for in Line Larsen I truly feel I met (in an online capacity) a potential soul mate. Our interests were similar and we exchanged similar worldviews and a sense of fondness prevailed that could have remained/lasted strong for a long time. When she disappeared off the face of the internet I truly feel fearful that something bad occurred to her in real life. I really wish she would get back in touch I miss her so.
At this point the single has almost concluded as I acknowledge that the first time I am playing this seven inch I am paying absolutely no attention whatsoever to it. My bad.
Beach House appear to have come out of nowhere, they are being lauded by all quarters as a sudden stream dreamy (sometimes drippy) bands begins to overwhelm indie pop. If it were a bit louder you might compare it to the shoegazers.
It all feels rather minimal. Half the time the vocalist (I’m loathe to say singer) appears to be making up words, exchanging lyrics for noises they appear to be making up on the spot.
There appears to be a prevailing leaning towards an eighties slickness and sensibility to sound at the moment. I am truly struggling to decide whether this is a good thing or not. Here with “Norway” I am being presented with a layered set of sounds padding out a strange set of sentiments being exhibited by the frontman that be. With creeping, underlying sonics I would not be surprised if new My Bloody Valentine material were to sound like this (or at least the demos might).
Perversely this ultimately sounds to me like the singer from the Wannadies fronting the accompaniment of Ryuichi Sakamoto in “Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence” mode with a dabble of MBV effects stirring underneath. Random.
The b-side sounds a bit like Scrawl.
They’re from Baltimore but not like in The Wire (the TV show not the magazine).
I think I missed the point.
Thesaurus moment: hut.
JGRAM
JGram, friend of the stars, chartered accountant and pie enthusiast, likes nothing better than KICKING YOUR SKINNY ASS by way of a carefully-timed half-nelson followed by the CLOTHES LINE! OW! So never, never cross him. His dog Snowy is equally rockhard and will bite your lim bs off in the blink of an eye. And then paw your eyes out for blinking when he's biting you.