Beach Slang - The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us (Album Review)

Beach Slang is a band that I've kind of grown pretty fond of...well probably more than pretty fond of. I enjoyed both of their 2014 EPs and they were Sound In The Signals' #1 and #2 EPs on our top EPs of 2014 list last year. I was an early listener of their debut EP, Who Would Ever Want Anything So Broken?. I kind of wondered if the band would ever be able to follow it up with songs of that caliber. Too often these days we see a band be able to write a few good songs and then with notoriety and pressure they crumble. The second EP, Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street, continued to deliver. Around a year or so, give or take from that second EP, the band has released their debut album, The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us. I was really anticipating this album. I even had it in my possible contenders for album of the year list. I also felt pretty nervous about it. The band had released an album's worth of good songs in 2014, the question was if they could they keep the train rolling in 2015. I definitely went into The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us with huge expectations. I crossed my fingers and hoped it would be a great album.

They kind of established their sound with the band's 2014 EPs. Beach Slang make this heart on your sleeve, lyrically heavy, punk rock music that leans heavily on influences from the late 70s and early 80s era post-punk or punk rock. Most notable of those bands is the similarities to the sound of The Replacements. The band also use a lot a production style that makes the songs sound sort of washed out with a grungy, muddy kind of distortion. That style adds a lot of that punk feel and even some urgency and feeling paired with the lyrics. The band has artwork that visually reminds you of those post punk era bands. Think The Smiths album artwork put through a few photo filters. They bring all those elements to the ultimate boil with this new album.

Any fear that this band couldn't live up to the hype washed away in a punk drench hazed, after one listen, as I realized they had done it once again. The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us is chocked with good song after good song and amongst all these really good songs are more than a few great songs. The album burns out about like your youth. It's here and it's gone in "a wild haze" and you really are along for the ride. Front man James Alex is a seasoned adult and from his lyrical approach to the way he approaches his heart on his sleeve mentality he's able to create lyrics that not only connect with the disenfranchised youth but he's also able to stretch it years beyond that. If you grew up loving artists like The Smiths, The Replacements, The Cure, and The Clash then this album will probably reach you in a way an album maybe hasn't in a long time. On the other hand if you are younger and growing up in the world we live in today then Alex is writing in a way that will undoubtedly, in my mind, speak to that crowd.

"Hard Luck Kid" is the biggest standout to me in an album of standouts. It hits all the right Beach Slang spots musically and lyrically. It's one of the best songs that the band has written to date. The albums mid-point is a re-recorded version of "Too Late To Die Young" that shows the band cleaning up the song a little and actually taking some of those layers of distortion off and adding some strings. It comes out being more enjoyable than the original and it's also a nice bridge for the album between the first and second half. If the band ventures out of the production style they've most commonly used up to this point this might be a nice direction to go.

I think this is a great debut. It builds on everything that the band has done up to this point without venturing too far outside of what people know. There isn't a lot of sonic growth, but that's to be expected from a debut album as the band try to define themselves. Some people might be thrown off by the production or think it is overkill on an entire album, but the short run time proves to be a strength. I also think the production style really does add an aesthetic that I think is essential to creating the mood and vibe of the album. I really couldn't ask for much more from this release, as a fan. The band come strong with a ton of exceptional songs. They show they've got the ability to take their sound and style from EPs to full lengths and it's easily one of my favorite releases this year. The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us is essential 2015 listening. Check it out!