I can’t remember the last time I hit play on a record and fell so head over heels in love with a band as quickly as I did Beach Slang. It’s been a while. The instant wash of noisy, fuzzed out, wall of sound guitar that hits is beautiful and fells vintage and fresh all at the same time. Call it punk, emo, rock and roll, it doesn’t matter. What matters is it’s really really good.
The songs are short, raw, and explode out of your speakers and infect your soul. This punk rock for the older crowd. For those that don’t feel the teenage angst any longer but are still mad as hell and want to party like they used to. And it is a good times record. It’s a sound I’ve heard before, but never quite this dynamic or good.
Throwaways doesn’t waste any time with intros, instead just busts right into the verse and throws you into the song. Each song is a little firecracker. The punk intensity of Throwaways is still there on Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas, but it also feels like it could just as easily be one of the best shoegaze songs on the decade. And Noisy Heaven meets both of those tracks somewhere in the middle. At times I’m reminded of a shoegazey version of Bad Religion and at other times it feels like what American Idiot could’ve been if, you know, Green Day hadn’t gone mainstream. But it’s not all big bad rock and roll. Beach Slang flexes their emo muscles with their acoustic ballad Too Late To Die Young and their less aggressive Porno Love.
If I had any complaint, it’s that the record too short. Only Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas clocks in at over 3 minutes (and just barely at 3:19). Beach Slang hits you hard, gets in and out quick, and leaves you wanting much more. I’ve listened to the record a dozen times and I could listen a dozen more. There’s nothing about The Things We Do that doesn’t work for me! It’s a perfect record. 5 out of 5 Stars!
