Bethany Cosentino wants you in her world. Her music is an open book, a voyage into the mind of a normal Cali girl. In tonight's hour long confessional she is singing about boys, or one in particular, and is endearingly gutsy onstage swathed in Cargo's brightest spotlight.
Her neon enclosure mirrors that put around her by the press and the blogs. Her self-titled record, released today, has been subject to mega hype, so much so that the majority of this sold-out crowd has the familiar stench of journos and guest list liggers. She can be forgiven for being a little nervous, and it's no surprise when she admits as much in the first spurt of a never-ending stream of consciousness that is hilarious, grating and just plain weird all at once.
Tonight we find out that Bethany is hot, she's pissed off with the mic, she “only speaks in twitter lingo,” her guitarist Bob only drinks milk, she's 'fucken nervous,' her cat is called Mr Snacks...the list goes on. And on. After each song is a minute's lapse, filled with the band bantering with the crowd, with each other (inaudibly) or with interminable mutterings from Bethany. The gaps create a stop-start dynamic over which the chatter of the crowd gnaws away at momentum and energy, but we’re not here to be niggled.
'Best Coast' the album is a joyful, sun-kissed waltz through boredom and loneliness, lurching past longing, and lusting before reaching an all-too-soon climax at satisfaction and contentment. And Best Coast the live band is much the same, only more ramshackle, with more warts 'n all personality, more of the all-inclusive lyrical conversation that characterizes the record.
Gone is the scrappy lo-fi of previous singles and this year's EP 'Where The Boys Are.' All this is replaced with girl-group sheen which treads the tightrope between over-produced mulch and the raw edginess we loved about Best Coast in the first place.
Tonight Bethany's voice is sweet and gooey, as her lyrics wrap themselves around the buoyant fuzz created by guitarist Bob and ex-Vivian Girl (now permanent Coaster) drummer Ali Koehler. 'Boyfriend,' 'Our Deal' and a woozy cover of 'That's The Way Boys Are' are smeared with girl-group loveliness, the Lesley Gore cover a telling sign of Best Coast's move away from the gutter to somewhere altogether frillier.
Mr Snacks, takes centre stage on the record's artwork and is the star tonight too. Bethany can't wait to see him and seems visibly distressed at the idea that he's back in LA all alone. When some of the crowd admit to being dog (not cat) people, the trio stand, middle fingers raised. They might be giggling, but they take this animal seriously.
Weed and boys, Bethany's two other default settings, are heavily referenced too ('When you leave me you take away everything, you take all my money, take all my weed'). Weed and cats seem a little trivial alongside the lovelorn laments elsewhere that, when delivered as beautifully as tonight, tug fiercely at the heartstrings. But here lies the band's appeal in a nutshell. Bethany sings about all of our lives and is unashamedly normal. It's like reading a stranger's diary, only set to a blue skies and ice cream sundae soundtrack.
The juiciest part of Best Coast’s story comes when she’s talking about the ‘you’ or ‘he’ that she’s so in love with. Nathan Williams, the male counterpart to Bethany’s slacker chic, fronts Wavves and is the beau to her belle. Everyone here knows it, and when heckled for the hundredth time she concedes, “yeah, my boyfriend is pretty cute.”
The encore brings what is perhaps the ultimate declaration of love, finishing your album launch show with one of your other half’s songs. As ‘So Bored’ rings out, Nathan’s grizzle steamrollered by Bethany’s coo, it becomes very apparent that her songs are the story tonight. This cover is out of place and just doesn’t match up to her own material. ‘When I’m With You’ is the real encore tonight, and Bethany the real star.
Words by Ben Homewood