BEACH HOUSE-BLOOM
Okay, first of all, I have quite a bit of familiarity with this duo as they are one of the best things that hail from Baltimore. Animal Collective also paid their dues in Baltimore, thus giving Baltimore its first real rock scene ever.
Anyway, Bloom is essentially the follow up to their classic Teen Dream, an album I absolutely love. And this album starts out the same way with Myth which compares very well with my Teen Dream faves, Zebra and Norway. After the solid second track, Wild, the album segues into the quirky toy piano based Lazuli. This might be my favorite track on this gentle psychedelic album.
The album continues on it’s psychedelic course with Other People. I love the vocals on this and on the album as a whole. The Hours is also pretty decent. Then there is the moody Troublemaker. I am always a fan of minor chords, and this is another favorite of mine.
We get to New Year, another melodic masterpiece. Haven’t found a weak track yet by this point. Wishes is another favorite and I just thought of something. The vocals remind me a little of Sigur Ros and one wonders if they were an influence in some way.
On the Sea is the last relatively short track on the album and it sets up the sixteen minute long Irene (with a hidden track apparently). Would have liked it better if there wasn’t such a gap between Irene and this hidden track but, oh well.
So, the best thing here is to compare the album to Teen Dream. Much like comparing Magical Mystery Tour to Sgt. Pepper, for me anyway. Bloom compares amazingly well it turns out as it is a classic in its own right. The instrumentation is lush and soothing as are the vocals and the songs are so melodic. I would recommend this to anybody. You’re going to have a tough time topping this one, SGR.
9.5/10 (The Word has spoken)
