WVAU Top Music of 2012: #4
December 29, 2012
#4 Album: Beach House – Bloom
Over the course of four albums, Beach House have grown into their own splendor, as their sound rose from Cocteau Twins-indebted, amateur-sounding “dream pop” to majestic heights. A huge Beach House fan myself, it didn’t matter if I was listening to my crappy-sounding Bloom mp3s with chunks missing out of its tracks or on vinyl through pristine speakers ÛÒ the record’s beauty is immediate and undeniable. Victoria Legrand’s voice is still as rich as the first times I heard “Wedding Bell” or “Silver Soul,” and stylistically, Bloom is constructed from the same ornate blueprints as their previous work, all arpeggiators and swooping choruses and velvet-voweled lyrics. But less immediate is its substance.
What’s special about Bloom, what elevates the work to an existence more than “Gila” redux or Heaven or Las Vegas’ second cousin, lies below its gossamer surface. Darker and less immediately emotional then its predecessors, my first impression of Bloom was that of disconnect, lacking Devotion’s intimacy or the tenderness of Teen Dream. But Bloom is the work of a band that has matured worlds from their bedroom-pop beginnings and accompanying sentimentality, an album that is more invested in refining its own private language of music-making than wearing its heart on its sleeve.
On Bloom, Beach House don’t make grandiose statements or narrative-shifting stylistic changes, choosing introspection over reinvention while shadowing their vivid instrumentals with a palette of dark, ambiguous emotion. As a result, Bloom embellishes the lush, melancholy world Beach House has built within their albums, but this time around, the relentlessly pounding tide of the band’s beauty feels more human than ever.
By Maeve McDermott
#4 Song: Japandroids – The House That Heaven Built
It is no secret that people love ranking and crowning their favorite albums or songs of the year, but there is one musical title that has a certain aura around it: the annual “summer jam.” You know a summer jam when you hear it ÛÒ all of them possess that unifying, anthemic quality that instantly recalls the freedom associated with the season. Oddly enough, two dudes from Canada might have provided us with the summer jam to end all summer jams in “The House That Heaven Built.” With its shout-along group vocals, blisteringly loud guitars, raucous drums, and “fuck the haters” message, the song almost necessitates that you play it with your car windows rolled down or at a house party with your best friends.
All of this could come off as corny if it weren’t for the earnestness with which Japandroids approach their cause; after all, their album is named Celebration Rock, in case you missed the memo. Singer Brain King said in a recent interview, “On the whole record, I think that there’s nothing negativeÛ_I don’t want to make records like that, and I don’t think people listen to Japandroids to feel negativity.” Never is this more evident than on “House,” in which King delivers an empowering chorus that sticks with the listener far after summer has passed: “When they love you, and they will/tell them all they’ll love in my shadow/and if they try to slow you down/tell em all to go to hell.Û
By Cameron Meindl
