Music Review: Teen Dream by Beach House

Note: This review will be appearing in the February edition of the Bulldog Bulletin

As the new decade began there was one album that seemed to be on everyone’s watch list for 2010. Beach House’s Teen Dream has defied the odds by fulfilling every bit of the hype it received – and then some. This album is a masterpiece of subtlety filled with dreamy hooks and intoxicating melodies, all while still retaining a very minimalist feel to it. In the same vein as Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest, a band with which Beach House is close buddies with not so coincidentally, Teen Dream becomes more intricate and intriguing upon each listen as its psychedelic waves of sound engulf you completely for a full forty-nine minutes.
For their third album, Beach House – a highly respected but relatively little-known band prior to now – opened up their sound completely in contrast to their second album Devotion. When comparing the two albums it almost sounds like the sound mixer turned the volume up about 5 notches for Teen Dream. Part of this must certainly be due to the new locale for Dream’s recording – band members Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally rented out a cathedral in Upstate New York and it adds a lot of atmosphere to their sound. The instruments themselves are hardly grandiose however; as Scally employs a cheap drum machine and old synthesizer throughout much of the album. Legrand’s voice (compared often to Nico of Velvet Underground fame) positively soars above each track so that the contrast between her vocals on Dream and her extreme nonchalance from the band’s first two albums is remarkable. Legrand and Scally step out of the shadows on this album to provide a much more appealing pop-friendly sound that still is firmly rooted in the band’s signature dreamy ambience and desolate nature.
The first three tracks of Teen Dream run a clinic on how to introduce an album. “Zebra” starts with a deliberate repeating guitar intro, joined with driving cymbals and kick drum. Wispy “aaaahs” follow until it is all finally joined by Legrand’s robust vocals. Its chorus proudly proclaims, “Any way you run, you run before us/Black and white horse arching among us!” as the hooks welcome you into the experience. The next track, “Silver Soul”, is a psychedelic fuzz suite that just emanates the word “cool”. It’s molasses thick with a masterful fuzz guitar, holy organ chords, and smooth half-time drums. Legrand repeatedly cries out, “It is happening again!” adding a frantic undertone to such a hypnotic and laid-back song. “Silver Soul” fades out into lingering chords from the organ that ring throughout the cathedral until finally resolving into the album’s showcase track “Norway”. This track is most likely unlike any song you’ve ever heard, and in turn the sense of discovery and wonder that it gives to the listener for the first time is invariably what gives it such a strong appeal. The synth slides in and out of tune unpredictably throughout the song – almost sounding like the thing is broken – until you realize that Legrand’s vocals are matching the synth’s warbles and slides and it instantly becomes unbelievably cool. “Norway” is out to a quick start for my top song of 2010 (and we’re only through February), and it’s going to take something really special to knock it off its perch.
Thankfully, the rest of Teen Dream never sags after those first three songs as every track is instantly re-listenable at any time. It’s hard to imagine another album matching Teen Dream’s strength from the first song to the last and although it’s a bit early to make proclamations I wouldn’t be surprised to find this album still sitting at the top of my list at the end of the year. Expect big things from Beach House in the future…really big things.