Indie kids are a unique species of music fan. They cling to their prized bands with undying love, wear "vintage" t-shirts to look retro, sport low tops, have seen The Big Lebowski 18 times or more and buy vinyl because they feel it makes them better than those who purchase music on iTunes (or the pirates who have managed to download every song ever recorded). Nevertheless they know more about music in general than your average music listener.
Beach Houses' Teen Dream was tailor made for such an audience. The music presented is as carefully pieced together as a warped tour kid's wardrobe, more self aware than Ivy League graduates and as musically vague, yet intriguing, as the almost transparent album cover.
Beach House are a duo from Baltimore consisting of French born vocalist Victoria Legrand and guitarist/keyboardist Alex Scally. They formed in 2004 which makes them 42 in dog years - an eternity in the ever increasing fickle music industry. The rumor is that with age comes wisdom, so when a band records it's third album everything so go swimmingly right? Well yes and no.
The band's sound has been described as "dream pop" which is another way of describing spacious drawn out melodies that float as effortlessly as some of Pink Floyd's best tunes. The entire album is constructed of 10 airy ballads that harmlessly trickle through your brain with the greatest of ease. Nothing is ever forced on you therefore nothing sticks to you.
Legrand's haunting chamber voice fits well with the symphony of over saturated reverbed guitars awash in heavenly atmospherics. In fact her soulful mourn of a croon is perhaps the only dreary sounding element on Teen Dream. Legrand sings to a faceless lover and pours her heart to you throughout the album. "You would slip from my mind in a matter of time" she sings on "Walk In The Park". I wonder if she knew that one line sums up the entire album?
Everything works to (yawn) passable perfection. It's so flawless that it's almost non human. Yeah the tunes are well crafted and sound "purdy", but nothing lies beneath the surface. Like Christmas wrapping the whole thing looks nice and presentable but only serves one purpose - to cover the gym socks that you've always wanted from Santa.
Trying to listen to this album is like spending 8 hours of your life staring at the Mona Lisa for a broader statement about humanity - whatever conclusion you come to is rendered meaningless because there was never a statement behind the artistic vision in the first place. Teen Dreammay present a pretty picture, run like clockwork and go off without a hitch, but it's devoid of anything meaningful or relevant. Good music for a wine tasting party - you taste it momentarily, then spit it down the drain. Cheers!
Grade: C+
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