Sun soaked Cali rockers Best Coast jager it up at Nashville's Exit/In

Sunny California pop rockers Best Coast played a nice set at Exit/In Wednesday night, but more and more I feel I'm growing out the demographic for this band. The wave of teeny boppers that dotted a large part of the crowd was pretty jarring and not what I expected, though maybe I just haven't been keeping up. They started out as a lo-fi, fuzzy and totally blown out indie garage rock band with singles like "Sun Was High (So Was I)" and the original version of "Up All Night," which doesn't exactly scream 14-year old music. Yet many of those up near the front looked like they had to scam an ID to get into this 18 and up show. I stuck around long enough to snap a few shots of Beth and crew and then booked it toward the back, where fortunately the age range was a little more diverse.

The set itself was fortunately pretty skewed toward Crazy for You, which is still one of my favorite albums of 2010. On this site I have made no bones about my distaste for the band's latest album, The Only Place. Despite a couple of catchy songs here and there, it's far too sanitized, syrupy, and strips out almost everything that was musically interesting about Crazy for You. They kicked off with my personal favorite song in their catalog, "Goodbye," a sentimental grunge coated rocker which reveals a great deal about frontwoman Bethany Cosentino's personality, while ending in a wash of emotionally charged and powerful cascading vocals.

Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast strums a sunny tune.

From there they bounced around from upbeat, bouncy rockers (Crazy for You, The End) while also touching on some more poignant slow dance numbers designed to tug on your heart strings (No One Like You, How They Want Me to Be). There were also a couple of new songs inserted into the mix, including the recently released "Fear of My Identity." It's a nice number, and restores some of the homespun and crunchy nature stripped away on The Only Place.

It's a nice enough live piece, although after a while all of these songs drift by at such a midsummer's pace that they start to very similar to one another. Though, it's tough to deny that the songs themselves are still pretty solid. They're all pretty infectious and insatiable, even when the writing isn't always the best.

A few other couple notes of interest is that Best Coast's set included something they have never hinted at on the albums -- jamming. They transition between the slow, melancholy part of "I Want To" into the fast part was given extra long jam treatment, and they did it again on the main set closer "Each and Every Day." It wasn't much to get excited about -- mostly just fast strumming of repeated chords. It felt more like they were just aiming at surprising the audience rather than something that could actually grow to be a component of the band's sound. The fact that they jammed was interesting; the jamming itself was not so much.

Hilariously enough, after the first song of the encore, Beth requested Jager shots for the entire band, which she promptly downed onstage before tearing into set closer "Boyfriend." It proved to be ill advised. It led to her forgetting some of the words and gave a generally off kilter performance, which is uniquely embarrassing when you consider that "Boyfriend" was the initial single that led to them getting noticed in the first place, is still a setlist staple for many of the band's fans, and is easily one of the best songs in their catalog.

One of the other highlights of the night was local rockers Bully, who kicked off the evening. Despite their clear youth pulled off a seasoned and well structured set. Singer/guitarist Alicia Bognanno remarked a couple times onstage that the band had only recently just started and that she felt nervous, but this only helped endear the audience to her and by the end of the set the entire crowd was most definitely behind her. If nothing more, the performance should definitely encourage more confidence for future outings.

It was very obviously Best Coast/girl/grungy inspired, but she moved around with deft and precision on the neck of her guitar, and the tunes showed a knack for solid songwriting. The sound on the vocals was turned way down, as it was for the band that came after them, but from what could be surmised she had a fine voice. A comedic moment ensued when the band began leaving the stage and someone in the crowd shouted "One more!" She turned and said something to the effect of "That's it! We literally don't have anymore!" This prompted a chuckle from the crowd. Though still obviously in the formative stages, this should be a local band to keep an eye on. Give them a few years and they could well be on a Best Coast level themselves.
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Related posts:

Best Coast - The Only Place review 
Best Coast - Crazy for You review 

Incubus proves less is not more with latest album

Since emerging from Calabasas, California in the early 90s, alt rockers Incubus have developed a reputation for taking a different musical approach on every record.

No two Incubus discs are the same, they used to say, and I suppose you could argue that's the case today. But on their more recent records it seems like they're just looking for a different way of doing the same thing.

Once, Incubus was cool because they stood out from the crowd. When they were first getting big, circa late 90s and early 2000s, nu metal was the big thing. Those days it seemed like the "vocalist" for just about every band was some asshat wannabe rapper wearing a red baseball cap, backed by a clueless guitarist who did little but chug away on his E string.

Incubus wasn't like that. They put their focus where it mattered: on composition, musicianship, and writing. Plus they had a vocalist who actually could sing.

At some point something changed. Up through Morning View, just about every song felt like a cohesive band effort. You could listen to each track and hear the influence each guy had on it.

But starting with A Crow Left of the Murder, there were several songs where I couldn't honestly say that was the case. Crow was front loaded with several pop hits which highly emphasized the role of the lead singer. But Incubus has always sounded best when the talents of each band member is being fully utilized.

Too bad that rarely happens on If Not Now, When?

Incubus has opted for a very mellow, stripped back sound to accompany a set of straightforward hook driven pop songs. Instrumentation is minimal; there's an extremely simple drum beat on almost every song, along with maybe piano or keys.  Guitar fades into the background so seamlessly you'll barely notice it's there.

This is easily Incubus at their most one dimensional. Their past albums spotlighted a variety of styles, but here there is very little diversity or variety from track to track. There's nothing wrong with having pop songs at a middling pace with bass, drums, and vocals, but it becomes an issue when that's all you do.

But it can't be all bad, right? After all, these guys have the mighty Mike Enzinger on the six string. I'd be hard pressed to think of another guitarist with a play style resembling anything like what he does, and I can't picture Incubus without him.

But the shame of it is, is that you barely get to hear him on this record. I had to check the booklet just to make sure he was actually still even in the band. His signature sound is MIA on the first three tracks, and it isn't until "Thieves" we get a reminder he's still here. Even so, it's just a fleeting riff here, a simple pattern there. He's got a nice solo on "Adolescents," but by then it's too little too late.

It doesn't help that every song sounds like it was written for a 16-year-old girl. "Promises, Promises" features some dopey drivel about Brandon finding himself or some shit, "Thieves" sees him mumbling some gibberish about a god fearing white American, and on "Friends and Lovers," we get to witness Boyd's moving argument that being a friend and a lover is totally a-ok.

Now before you typecast me as some dreadlocked, herb smoking Incuphile who hated everything after S.C.I.E.N.C.E. consider that I liked much of the writing on their later albums. Yes, it's not just that the writing is bad on this album, it's even a downgrade from their more recent material.

Take a song like "Dig," for instance. It's a thought provoking tune that measures the complexity of human relationships and emotion, all while cleverly wrapping it in a double meaning based on the word dig.

"Agoraphobia" is a song based on a sensation of constant fear and panic which managed to tap into your emotional circuitry in a way you wouldn't think. The best line on If Not Now, When? features Brandon getting mobbed by some freaky chick in a black hat and thigh highs.

There are some positives. "Isadore" is a nice breezy song with a cool melody. The rhythm section gets its chance to shine on "Switchblade," which features a rippling bass line and a groovy, propulsive drum beat that ever so slightly reminds us of Incubus's funky roots.

But the real gem is "In the Company of Wolves," which truly does sound like something Incubus has never done before. It starts off with a type of 70s prog folkish riff. Then when the vocals come in, you'll wonder if the band changed singers. But no, you'll quickly realize, it  is Brandon, singing at the top of his octave range, which we've rarely heard before.

It gives off kind of a 70s-ish "Behind Blue Eyes" type of vibe. Things get even stranger in the second half, when the song builds up to a fuzzy, noise type crescendo, with the effect of an emotional catharsis.

And that brings us around to Brandon. For the most part, he does a fine job on this album. The issue is that he has to carry it all on his own, due to the way the music is arranged.

Surely there will people who would like this record. If you're a fan of pop music, or if you like strong male vocalists, If Not Now, When? might be right for you. Specifically, if your ideal Incubus track is something like Paper Shoes, Dig, or Mexico, this album might be a good investment.

But there's another brand of Incubus fan out there, the type that likes the funky zany shit; the type that likes to headbang to "Blood on the Ground" or "Light Grenades" while also having something catchy thrown in.

In my mind, I can visualize what I think they were going for with this stripped back approach. Probably a quiet, intimate record along the lines of Phil Selway or Nirvana Unplugged. But the in your face pop vibe makes that nigh on impossible to pull off.

Brandon is no longer the same guy who tried to call AAA but his card was expired. And as I said at the beginning, the past few Incubus records have been a slightly different way of doing the same thing - repackaging pop hits. It's just that If Not Now, When? drives that point home like none other.

Score: 55/100