Aside from having a name tabloid papers are liable to use to describe the recent Beach Boys tour, Beach Fossils are fairly low on the radar in terms of surf pop/lo-fi. Clash The Truth could change all that.
Dustin Payseur and co’s second-born kicks up much more of a fuss than its predecessor. Each track is well encapsulated. It’s the kind of album you find yourself lost inside, walking in time with the beat and pouting slightly at incoming traffic, noting how misunderstood and unappreciated you are in your own time. Opening track Clash The Truth quite purposefully borrows the opening riff from Pretty Vacant and you’re all in from there. It’s like listening to an album you've heard before, but between sleep and wake. There are moments you recall and lyrics you could have scribbled in a journal - “I let my heart feel no regrets, I feel so careless in my head” from first single Careless.
It would be easy to say The Drums wear the crown in terms of shoegazing, dreamy indie beachfront bands but Beach Fossils are hot on their heels. The difference between the two being that The Drums made too much impact with their debut, with too much hype and struggled to follow up the fuss with Portamento Beach Fossils worked in the opposite. Their 2010 self titled was worthy of note but Clash The Truth is a sprint following a warm up jog. The two bands are currently a double helix.
On moments like Shallow you see the development most of all. The creases have well and truly been ironed out or worn in. There’s a formula to writing great surf pop and Beach Fossils have hit upon it, they've pulled the lever on the hit machine and are greedily collecting their winnings, and rightfully so. Birthday drops in like The Cure and Caustic Cure is a stand out track in terms of lyrics and Interpol-esque guitar effects. There’s nothing to offend, it’s an album that fits exactly where it intended to and for that Beach Fossils should be applauded.
Rather than take the usual route of a slow or acoustic number constituting the closing track on the album we are confronted with Crashed Out, one of the brightest tracks on the album. It defies convention and it leaves the floor open for a follow up.
It would make perfect sense for Clash The Truth to become the soundtrack to your Summer so why look elsewhere?
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Paul Schiernecker
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