Send "Beach Fossils " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 There's a paradoxical problem that arises when Beach Fossils hit their stride. During onslaughts of mini bass-bubbles, languid vocalization and general not-caring-ness, these Brooklyn dudes simply become a superb background band. The slightest disturbance to one's environment can render an intricate haze-rock number like "Fall Right In" even more inert than usual. But, I guess, if you have nothing but some headphones and a wall to look at, the What A Pleasure EP can induce one of those ethereal experiences lots of shamans and college sophomores talk about. It's sort of a right place-right time album, but only if that place is face down on a bed and that time is when you feel like laying face down on your bed.Which is not to say that What A Pleasure is worthless. I, for one, often find myself with quite a bit of nothing to accomplish. And although me saying that only when I literally have nothing to distract me do I pop in a Beach Fossils album isn't so much a backhanded compliment as it is a completely rude non-statement (that says much more about my sad state of affairs than anything critical about the band), it is still a sentence in this review. So, there's that. And while the 7 or so songs on What A Pleasure have different names, it never really feels like anything ends or begins. It just kind of is, much in the same way that after listening to Beach Fossils, you know something happened but you can't remember why it did so or what it meant. But it all has to mean something, even if that something is just for the sake of playing music. And on songs like "Calyer" and "Face It," there is music to be sure, yet neither song does anything but make you go, "Wait, again?" At the risk of sounding like a person completely out of ideas, What A Pleasure is sort of like one of those MC Escher paintings - everything is the same, despite being presented as something different. I guess at the heart of my argument with this sort of "beach" rock or "chill" tunage is that a style is not a box or whatever. And an album shouldn't sound like it took one day to write....full text |
| Cokemachineglow |
| Despite the summery associations of their name, Beach Fossils make perfect music for a dreary late winter. The band’s new EP What a Pleasure, with its wispy melodies and ice-cold guitar riffs, only sounds truly at home under overcast skies. Singer-songwriter Dustin Payseur and co. have warmed up their sound ever so slightly since Beach Fossils (2010), layering synths and more ethereal vocals, yet the effect is pretty much the same: it’s beautifully atmospheric music, all swirling and evocative sounds, that leaves almost no lasting impression. What a Pleasure feels like a pleasant dream whose memory remains for only a minute in the morning. The themes on What a Pleasure consist of longing, restlessness, and sort-of love, and as on last year’s debut, they’re conveyed through familiar scenarios couched in vague language. If it’s confessional songwriting you’re after, you won’t find it on a Beach Fossils record. Most of Payseur’s lyrics hover within a college-boy estimation of how feelings are felt; namely, by meeting up at someone’s apartment, staying up late, talking about stuff, and watching the sun rise. Take “Fall Right In”: “The sun lights your room / ‘Cause we talked all night / I wanna stay with you until the sun comes up.” There’s also a fair amount of cliché in tracks like “Distance” (“When I think of you / It tears my heart / And pushes me / Back to the start”), but obviously this band’s focus is not conveying some lyrical message; they’re cultivating a dream state, fueled by jangle-pop guitar, which is the glue holding those vague associations and wispy vocals together. Without it they would simply evaporate. Though eight tracks seems a bit much, What a Pleasure is a true EP: at just over 23 minutes, it’s more like one epic composition than a collection of individual pop songs. What before was stark with only occasional surges of energy is now slightly warmer, with synths bubbling up underneath those treble-y guitars. Bright guitar and sighing vocals kick off the short instrumental “Moments,” the perfect lead-in to the hazy “What a Pleasure,” which sounds pretty much exactly like something from the band’s debut. The livelier “Fall Right In” actually manages to seem almost sunny, in a deserted-beach kind of way, all chiming riff and stacked vocal harmonies....full text |
| Prefixmag |
| Beach Fossils’ tendency to mine woozy, half-remembered sounds of the past continues on this stopgap EP, which allegedly precedes the group’s second full-length album due later this year. Once again, Beach Fossils drench their tracks in reverb, but still manage to cram as many spindly guitar hooks into each song as possible, if first revealed track “Calyer” is any indication....full text |
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