Send "Beach Fossils " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 If you've followed indie's trade winds over the past year and a half, you can probably predict what a Brooklyn band called Beach Fossils sounds like to a staggeringly accurate degree. In this case, please set aside the prejudices: Beach Fossils aren't merely trying to evoke the feeling of sand between your toes, and even if you think you've mentally checked out of anything summery and lo-fi, this is a wonderful record. Dustin Payseur's Captured Tracks band claims influence from improvisational jazz, classical music, and Stereolab, and his songwriting owes more to loop-based composition than garage-bound woodshedding. From the functionality of the song titles on down, Beach Fossils has purpose and economy. It's built on cleanly picked single notes stacked over complementary bass patterns and unobtrusive drums.Despite working in generally constricted song patterns-- there's little in the way of verse/chorus structure-- Payseur has no problem letting his vocals and guitar craft hooks. In fact, it's the guitar riffs that you'll probably end up humming: check the pitch-shifted Peter Hook homage on "Daydream", the tight "Youth", or "Sometimes", on which Payseur falls just shy of soloing. Drift and atmosphere also work for Beach Fossils: the breezy coda of "Window View" feels like it could drift forever as long as it handed you a lemonade part of the way through....full text |
| Fensepost |
| I recently posted a list of ten bands that I should have checked out last year and there was an overall theme to the ten: several were from the Woodsist label. Beach Fossils has the sound of that label, and it’s no surprise; the band released a 7″ via Woodsist late last year. Their sound is packed with the fuzzy folk-pop jangle of bands like Woods and Real Estate and Fresh & Onlys. “Youth” is the band’s next single and it’s off their forthcoming self-titled release on Captured Tracks, out any day now. It’s a laid-back summer indie-pop jam, filled with jangly guitars and chilled-out percussion. I’m not sure about you, but music like this makes me want to sit outside in the shade and drink a cold, dark beer while watching the trees sway in the light breeze and soft clouds slowly pass by, occasionally blocking the heat of the sun. And, of course, do it all while cranking up songs just like “Youth” and “Vacation” and “Daydream”. Beach Fossils is the latest of many groups to utilize this sound, not necessarily soft but also not fast. It’s a mix that bodes well for the coming summer months....full text |
| Mishkanyc |
| I could have written this review in my sleep and in fact, I sort of did, as it’s inevitable that each time I turn on the distant, drowsy, muffled tracks of one-man band Beach Fossils (Dustin Payseur), I find my eyelids heavy, fighting to maintain awakeness. Hinged only on a familiarity with “Daydream”, one of the two tracks Payseur had to his name from the Beach Fossils debut 7″, his self-titled, full-length debut arrives sounding like an album I’ve known, loved and played on repeat for years, a collection of drifting poolside daydreams, inward introspection and tender, if not a bit timid, fuzzy melodies. Payseur walks ahead, turns back to you, and sings from a distance, his words often slightly mumbled from under a breezy haze. At times it can be tough to pick out the individual lyrics and it seems his intent lies more in crafting a mood than a structured song. Yet his tendency to ramble works to his advantage, and you find yourself hitting play again and again, until you’ve isolated his thoughts, and discovered that under the introversion, Dustin Payseur is an emotive and astute lyricist with the skill of being able to pack a punch through very few words. Payseur breaks the buzzing fuzz of “Golden Age” with his sharp tongue, “You only see what you want to see. I don’t want you to see me.” His words are equally moody across the album, and paired with the lazy sunshine of his instrumentation, he brings his own overcast cloud cover to a bright afternoon....full text |
Beach Fossils lyrics
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