The New Old Best Coast

For reference (and because it's great and free), download Best Coast's new song "The Only Place" by clicking here.

When Best Coast frontperson Bethany Cosentino discussed the band's upcoming sophomore album The Only Place a few months ago, she described it as country-influenced, "grown up" and more personal than their first album Crazy For You. Songs they've played live from the new album so far, including "Why I Cry," have certainly delivered introspective maturity but not a trace of country. The latest track from The Only Place to hit the 'Net, however, the new album's title-track, fills that gap.

Right away, opening with lightly strummed, shaker-backed guitars, "The Only Place" sounds like no other Best Coast song I can immediately think of. Also atypical of Best Coast is the fact that "The Only Place" is based on note-picked guitars rather than full chords (any musicians want to throw me a proper term here?). And the production is so clean and tight - unlike the hollow and muddled but punchy Crazy For You - that one can hear a little twang in the guitars. The cleaner, looser production also gives Bethany's vocals and every instrument equal weight, relaxing the drumming (which takes center stage on Crazy For You), giving the song space to breathe and mellowing it out.

Bethany has also stated during the making of The Only Place that she really wants to develop as a singer. Best Coast's seemingly endless touring behind Crazy For You has long served as her opportunity to do exactly that; hear their iTunes Session EP, specifically their cover of Loretta Lynn's "Fist City," where Bethany's voice really shines as the songs' centerpiece. On "The Only Place," she sounds relaxed, no longer belting out lyrics to keep up with the song's poppy pace. And the clean production does nothing but favours in allowing listeners to actually hear her confident new voice.

No question, "The Only Place" signifies both emotional and musical growth in Best Coast. But as "grown up" and musically intricate as the song is for the band, "The Only Place" is still unmistakably Best Coast. The song still boasts most of their typical lyrical fare: sunshine, sitting around, "fun," beaches and West Coast-trumpeting; the only things missing are Bethany's cat Snacks and weed. With one simple question, though, Bethany puts a personal spin on "The Only Place" that shows she takes all of those subjects to heart: "Why would you live anywhere else?" After all, "[w]e've got the ocean, got the babes, got the sun; we've got the waves. This is the only place for me," she declares. So, "[l]eave your cold behind. We're gonna make it to the beach on time."

Neverminding the obvious fact that "The Only Place" is the new album's title-track, one can consider this song the record's thesis statement. Bethany has discussed her West Coast pride before, bolstered by her travels abroad (particularly in touring in support of Crazy For You), and "The Only Place" seems to sum up her previously expressed feelings. And not only does "The Only Place" sum up who Bethany Cosentino currently is as a person, but it sums up who Best Coast currently are as a band as well: a band that is growing but remaining true to who they are. If "The Only Place" is any indication of the rest of the album to come, Best Coast fans are in for a real treat, and the band is bound to make some new ones along the way.

How much of this am I going to regurgitate when I inevitably review the new album?