Beach Fossils

It takes some stones to put the word "beach" in the name of your band. But Beach Fossils, a band from Brooklyn, did just that. While comparisons to the Beach Boys don't seem apparent, there is a connection. It's as if Beach Fossils are the confused slacker grandsons of the Wilson brothers.

Beach Fossils' front man is Dustin Payseur, who writes or co-writes all the songs on their 2010 self-titled debut album. The sound is very lo-fi, with lots of reverb, and Payseur's vocals are combined in a kind of reverie-like choir. The guitar work (I'm not sure by who--the lineup has changed and there is no credits on the album) has a kind of crystal-tapping sound, and the songs are all seem to be in a minor key.

Lyrically, the songs reflect a brain fog on Payseur's point. He doesn't seem to be a very get-up-and-go kind of guy. Consider some of these titles: "Vacation," Daydream," and "Lazy Day." Another is called "Wide Awake," but I have to view that as ironic. In several of the songs some form of the phrase "I don't know" is mentioned. Consider this verse from "Golden Age": "But I'm not trying to lose my mind, but I couldn't say that I wouldn't mind," or from "Daydream," "And not a day goes by or an hour without, times I can't remember what I'm thinking about." I wonder what these guys are like in concert--perhaps they recline in La-Z-Boys?

But I liked this record, despite its trending toward somnambulism. The songs don't have any diversity--they all that wall of sound and Payseur's overdubbed vocals--but it makes for a pleasant listening experience. And like The Beach Boys, this album makes me think of summer, especially the last track, an instrumental that includes the sound of crashing waves. It's not the summer of cars and girls like The Beach Boys, but instead the lazy summers of not doing anything but letting your mind drift.