That Old Beach House of Ours

My family can never decide which BBQ place we like better - Dinosaur BBQ or Morgan’s. It always seems to be the one where we’re eating at the time.

So when I finally decided to take the plunge with the Baltimore duo Beach House - a band that’s been around since 2006 - I made up for lost time by taking two.

And now I keep jumping back and forth between the two, trying to decide which one is my favorite.

For a while, I couldn’t even tell which song was on which album. Then I developed a mental shorthand which told me if the production was lush, it was Bloom, and if it was weird and haunting it was Teen Dream.

And now after about twenty listens each I can I can finally tell which album a given song is from.

And after thirty listens each I think I can finally form an opinion.



Teen Dream (2010)

After being disappointed by Speedy Ortiz, going through genre fatigue with jazz and classical, and getting worn down by the news, it was nice to hear something gentle and a little weird.

Part of the weirdness is the sparse but spacious production and Victoria Legrand’s almost-baritone vocals. The effect is of being greeted at the entrance of a castle by a very old woman. You wonder who you’re going to meet there. Boris Karloff or Peter Boyle?

We end up with both, who are getting on well and talking about old times. So everyone ends up having a lovely time.

The overall atmosphere goes a long way, and makes up for the tunes not quite holding up to the very end. (But I’m listening to it right now and the tunes seem just fine. And maybe it's Bloom that's a bit too slick…)

But most importantly, it was just what I needed at the time.

A-

“Used to Be”



Bloom (2012)

Here they’re going for a more polished sound, so the weirdness factor has dropped a bit. But the melodies and singing are stronger.

Victoria Legrand’s voice fills up all that space, and the musical accompaniment by her and Alex Scally is spot on every time out.

I normally gravitate to weird since melody and production are often compromises. But if this is what compromise is I want more of it.

A


These grades are tentative and have a tendency to switch back and forth.

So which one is better? Well, that would be whichever one that’s playing right now.