Best Coast - Always Tomorrow

Always Tomorrow is another of my beloved Marco Polo Platters. The first thing that caught my eye was the cover. Okay, that was the second thing. The first thing was the clearance sticker, but dang the cover gave me a good chuckle. The cover for Always Tomorrow is a weirdly wonderful juxtaposition of perspective on a familiar image. It's a picture taken from inside the Hotel California looking out into the world. Some will get it, some won't ... most won't care. It's the font in the bottom right that pulls it all together. Dagnabbit that album was twenty years when Bethany Cosentino was born, so I'm guessing her parents had a decent record collection. Of course I could just be seeing things, and this is all a giant load of horseshit.

I don't think so.

Best Coast is a dreamy pop band who likes to incorporate jingle jangle guitars into their music. The music is weirdly nostalgic for me. It may be new but structurally this is what I grew up with. Ah, the more things change the more they stay the same. The band isn't a band it's a duo featuring Bethany Cosentino: vocals, guitars, keys, percussion and Bobb Bruno: guitars, bass, keys. While this is the first record by them I have, I have heard their previous album California Nights and really liked the lead off track "Feeling Ok"  - a great song. I don't think of that album as being from a decade ago ... then again while Always Tomorrow is new to me, it was released six years ago. Goodness, where does the time go? Although it is still their most recent album by them as Best Coast is currently on hiatus.

I really love this kind of music, it's dreamy, it's got enough of a power pop kick to give many of the songs a bit of an edge. I'll just address the elephant in the room real quick. There are some similarities between Best Coast and Metric, but I'm not sure if that simply boils down to both acts are fronted by women with ethereal voices. The comparison doesn't really hold up to any real scrutiny as Emily Haines and Bethany are quite different while being complimentary.

If there's a downside to Always Tomorrow, it's that there's a sameness to the songs that make them bleed together. It's not monotonous, but when playing in the background, I hate to say it, it all sounds the same. To put it another way, all of the songs are good... except the issue is that if everything is good, then nothing is good - it just ... is. Good gravy, I sound like a bloody bitter boomer (I prefer Generation Jones, but I'm still waiting for that to catch on) allow me to take the foot out of my mouth.

Music is always going to be in the ear of the beholder. Put it this way, some people like listening to Geddy Lee sing and others would rather watch Camp Rock. I had to watch it with my daughter, over ... and over and I'd rather listen to Geddy sing songs from Caress of Steel. No not "The Necromancer" or "Bastille Day" I'd play "I Think I'm Going Bald" on repeat.

Always Tomorrow despite my earlier comment about it being a homogeneous listening experience, that isn't really the case. After a few spins the word that comes to mind is cohesive, and there are some songs that rise to the top. The album opens with "Different Light" and it's catchy, but it was also familiar ... really familiar. So much so that I kept humming the opening and thinking, "Who is this?" Then it came to me. A Flock of Seagulls, good Lord, it was A Flock of Seagulls. The song takes a lot of inspiration from "(It's Not Me) Talking" - Which got me thinking, how cool was their parents record collection?

Anyway, it was more cool than jarring and I generally try to avoid picking things apart but sometimes it's just really obvious ... of course I suspect Bethany had no idea ... but it makes me wonder. Regardless, it's a standout track. "Master of My Own Mind" is another song I keep coming back to. It's arguably one of the best songs on the album. I love how it ebbs and flows.

I'm trying to avoid doing a song by song breakdown. The more I listen the more bits and pieces start to stand out. Saying that, I will single out "True" a beautiful mid tempo ballad that is deliciously lo-fi and I love the spring reverb delay. It's an effect that could have been overused because it's so cool.

In an age of streaming where a physical release is a luxury, I was really impressed at the attention to detail that was put into the record. A gatefold, and a full colour insert. This checks a lot of boxes for in terms of the tactile listening experience. You'll never truly convince me that a record sounds better than a CD or a good lossless stream, but I love the intentional aspect to listening to records. The reward is built into the experience. When the record is good it just makes everything better.  

Always Tomorrow was the duos fourth album, and it was surprising to me that unlike their previous releases this one failed to chart. I wonder if this is one of the reasons the duo decided to put Best Coast on hold.

Audiences are fickle.

Time marches on, but there is always tomorrow, but you should listen to this today.