The most annoying aspect of writing about indie rock is having to deal with the glut of ironic band names. There are Girls and there are Women, and both of which have too many Y chromosomes to be accurate. It would be nice if The Muslims hadn’t changed their name to The Soft Pack because of the negative attention, but rather because they realized no band coined after a religious sect will ever have a name better than Silver Jews. But irony wasn’t involved when former North Carolinan/current Brooklynite Dustin Payseur decided to form Beach Fossils. In fact, Payseur couldn’t have picked a better name for his band, given its proclivity to create laconic, blissed-out post-punk that seems born miles away from the cramped lofts and concrete-jungle-like atmosphere of BK.
“Lazy Day”, from the band’s forthcoming self-titled debut (courtesy of the practically unfuckwithable Captured Tracks), captures the same feeling of escapism as the droney surf-rock of hometown peers Crystal Stilts, in its ability to create a hazy, idyllic atmosphere akin to misremembered nostalgia. Sounding like The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry” played at half-speed, Payseur’s vocals have an underwater effect placed on them, with lyrics like “In the morning time, we didn‘t think of better days” bubbling underneath the spindly guitars and bouncy drumbeats. There is a certain kind of refreshing you-get-what-you-pay-for attitude that comes with “Lazy Day”. No cheap irony or cooler-than-thou disposition, none of the bratty diffidence of most of his lo-fi-leaning peers. Wavves’ “So Bored” was a blown-out, over-dramatized complaint about not having shit to do. “Lazy Day” is the exact opposite, a bored-sounding city-dwelling slacker who would rather have nothing to do than anything else. –Martin
Download:
MP3: Beach Fossils – “Lazy Days”
