Google Search “Myth” by Beach House and the first results are breathless posts from ABC News, Huffington Post and Complex. The “articles” belie an already-established point: Beach House have transcended the small indiesphere and become big enough to be the recipient of a three-day long Hipster Runoff binge uncorking the word “lamestream.” I’ve always liked Beach House and still do: they channel a woozy opium pipe and American Apparel poncho aesthetic as well as anyone in the altered zones. But it’s a little baffling to watch them elevated into marquee rock group status, considering they don’t rock, write 12 variations of the same song, and their chief attribute is a morose pallor that replicates drugs that are almost impossible to acquire.
Hence “Myth,” which sounds almost identical to every other Beach House song. That is, to say, brooding and shrouded in bells, fake fog and what sounds like an electric cello. The saving grace is Victoria Legrande’s voice, Delphic, frail and sparked with a faint phosphorescence. The less you say about the lyrics the better. “If you build yourself a myth/know just what to give.”
And the song answers the riddle. All you need to give is mood music (no Budden), poorly recorded sound quality, and minor explorations of the same key that you’ve been riffing on since they were birthed from Brooklyn media and the Baltimore art scene. I like “Myth” fine. It’s a pretty trifle of a song. Beach House do one thing very well and when I ostensibly want to get high and watch old home movies that my parents never recorded, this will be my go-to aural opiate. But the enduring hype seems a little absurd. There’s nothing wrong with a little mythbusting every now and then.
Download: (via GVB)
MP3: Beach House-“Myth”
