Best Coast returns with their most aware and well-rounded album to date—fit to chase away those pesky winter doldrums. With songs that range from the upbeat, to the vulnerable and to the anthemic, “Always Tomorrow” –the band’s 4th album—will almost certainly be viewed as the band quintessential album that solidifies the female-fronted alt-rock duo’s well-earned status among fans and critics alike.
For fans of Weezer, the Go-Go’s and Hole, you will love this album. For fans of Best Coast—made up of Bethany Cosentino and guitarist/multi-instrumental extraordinaire Bobb Bruno, make no mistake: “Always Tomorrow” will have you loving Best Coast even more.
The album opens with “A Different Light,” which hits with the sudden urgency of morning sunshine through a pulled curtain. But as the infectious mid-song bridge rains in with the “wait wait wait wait” refrain, you just can’t help but not want to wait to see what the rest of the album has in store.
With clever clichés with unique twist sprinkled in through the album (“I escape to witch mountain every day” in “Everything Has Changed”), the album continues it’s beach party-esque stomp through rolling waves of emotion.
From the content-sounding “For The First Time,” the band finds itself in classic form—as Cosentino retorts, of the “Graceless Kids,” “They need a hero, not a wreck.”
Not once does Bethany convey that she is perfect, though she questions “So why do I keep pushing myself?” in “Wreckage,” a crunchy, bright indie rock gem that is every bit as realistic as it is forgiving.
Throughout the album, you get the sense Bethany is owning up to something, and moving on. You get the sense that she is wiser for whatever may have happened to her, and accepts herself for being human—and not perfect. And, you can just feel it: She has the confidence of having a treasured friend (& musician) like Bobb Bruno at her side. Something we should all be so lucky to have.
As the album winds down with “Make It Last” and “Used To Be,” you get this coming-back-to-earth feeling—that whatever journey Best Coast has been on these past 5 years (since 2015’s “California Nights” album), that by returning—they’ve been able to move on.
Thankfully with a tour this spring, they’ve invited us to join them. https://bestcoast.net
So if “Always Tomorrow” was lead singer/guitarist’s Bethany Cosentino way of working through depression, feeling comfortable in her own skin, and accepting her journey (as she professed in a series of emails announcing the new record), well, then this album demonstrates not only her talent as a songwriter, but her strength as a person—something any listener of any genre, and any gender can relate to.
Perfectly.
Best Coast “Always Tomorrow”
February 21, 2020
11 songs, 39 minutes
Rating: 5/5
MavStar 