California girl

With all the political, economic and social turmoil of the past few years, it makes sense a number of musicians have put on aural smiles and strummed happy tunes in order to thwart bad vibrations. The music scene has always had its sunny pop, but these days things seem to get so bright they begin to fry around the edges, leading to the frizzled, burned out sound of bands like Wavves and Girls.

Best Coast's debut album, Crazy for You, is a quick spiral into the sunny delights of painful and needy relationships. Generally, this is still fun music with only one goal: sit back and relax.

The obvious question is if the band, led by Los Angeles native Bethany Cosentino, has really found the better coast. California is basically in the pits of an economic crisis but perhaps that's the point — Best Coast lazes along, oblivious of the weight of the world and mainly focused on keeping or finding a boyfriend.

Case-in-point: Opening track "Boyfriend" finds Cosentino pining for one particular man over the glazed pop fuzz of the instrumental. The song has a definitive hook to it, revealing itself to be an open-faced sandwich of all the things Best Coast uses in its music.

That being said, not everything the band does is entirely commendable. While "Boyfriend" is an easy song to enjoy, listeners will begin to get the impression Cosentino is a bit of a complainer. Whether these songs are based on real events or not is irrelevant. Cosentino's lyrics show her character, which is construed as someone who is often weak and desperate.

If that's what she was going for, then bravo, but it can be irritating on deeper, repeat listens.
Musically, the tracks have a homogenous sound that ends up playing out like an act stretched to its limits, although more in the sense that the group is very raw. By the end of the album, it feels as if Best Coast has tried every possible pathway with its given instruments and necessary mood-quirks.

Surprisingly enough, this is the economical approach to album making. In just about 31 minutes, Best Coast shows everything the band can do without changing directions.
Highlight "I Want To" is another encapsulation of Best Coast's style — an overly blissed-out early '60s bubblegum pop croon for love that explodes into a 13th Floor Elevators-effected proto-punk jam.

"Our Deal" captures the rest of Best Coast's list of influences, with everything from The Byrds to The Everly Brothers. The track sparkles as it sways back and forth, cradling listeners in the twang and shimmer of unrequited love.

This is an album for the summer — for times without worries and long endless days. It's certainly not the most exciting album of the year but Best Coast does deserve props for so seamlessly packing sunshine into a nutshell.

Just remember, when the dark clouds, nippy evenings and financial struggles of winter semesters and heating units settle in, Best Coast will be there, warm as ever.

RATING: 3 stars out of 5

diversions@umdbk.com