Profile: Best Coast
Californian surf-pop duo set for Edinburgh date
That name rings a bell … refresh my memory?
Gladly. It’s a boy/girl duo of Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno, with Ali Koehler on drums.
What does their music sound like?
A sad look back at a really incredible, life-changing, but ultimately totally doomed teenage holiday romance?
Christ. I had one of those. This could be for me. What’s my entry level Best Coast crash-course listening?
Probably ‘Boyfriend’. Its heat-warped alt-rock and soaring vocals made it an online super-hit, and the video was set at a ‘Quinceañera’ (a Mexican ‘Sweet Fifteen’ party). Their debut album Crazy for You (Wichita) came out last year and is also a very good taster of their retro 60s, Spector-esque girl group sound.
Have they been on the go for a while then?
Best Coast began in 2009, but the band members have been making music for a while, under different guises. Bethany used to be one half of the ‘Olsen twins of blissed-out drone’, when she played alongside Amanda Brown in Pocohaunted. The drummer Ali also used to be one of the Vivian Girls, but left to join Best Coast.
What else should I know?
Drew Barrymore is a fan, and directed their new video for ‘Our Deal’, featuring two warring LA gangs.
The Bongo Club, 558 7604, Tue 30 Aug, 7pm, £13.50, part of the Edge Festival. bestycoasty.blogspot.com