BY SARAH ROBINSON, JUNIOR EDITOR
Best Coast’s most recent album, California Nights, quenched eager fans’ desire for another collection of beachy, summery hits after a close to two-year wait. I feel the need to be brutally honest with this review purely because, as a fan of Best Coast, I would’ve liked to see something a little different come out of their latest album, especially from the band that makes up the majority of my go-to summer playlist.
For the group that once made waves with me, I feel like I’ve been wiped out.
The 12-song LP features the single “Feeling Ok” as its first track. The only way I can think of describing the way this song makes me feel is to say that I feel like I should be in a early-2000’s Disney movie montage when I hear that repetitive guitar hook and bass loop kick in. So, if it’s that kind of a day, this is the track for you. Hey, we’ve all been there.
With the exception of “Fine Without You” and “Run Through My Head,” the rest of the album could be “So Unaware” on repeat for forty minutes and I’m not sure I would notice. However, that’s not really a bad thing. California Nights is the kind of album you bring to the beach and listen to in the background. It’s the kind of album that you listen to for the ambience it gives, not necessarily for its ear-catching jams.
As for the album as a whole, the songs make sense in the order they are in, which is something that is important to me as a listener. And with “Wasted Time” concluding the record, you really get that satisfying feeling that you have just finished listening to an album.
My overall verdict is that there will never truly be enough Best Coast in this world, but with this record I think fans will feel as though they’ve been robbed of a potentially great album.
Grade: B-