Beach House is the moniker for the duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally, who play keyboard and guitar, respectively, in addition to their touring drummer and drum machine. After the extensive touring for their second full length Devotion in 2008 and 2009, the duo began working on a new record, at a new record label: Sub Pop. This along with the addition of flashy- among indie music nerds- producer/engineer Chris Coady led to their most distinct, ambitious and all around awesome album to date, Teen Dream, which was released in late January (but let’s be honest, if you’re taking the time to read this review you probably had a leaked copy ahead of time, too). The last time I saw Beach House, at the Sasquatch Music Festival in 2009, they stopped mid song, multiple times, due to technical difficulties with their sound monitors. It left me with the understanding that from that point forward, they would have to be a band which I appreciated for their recording abilities, and that they couldn’t bring the same qualities to a live show. Yet, on Saturday night I was tucked into bed with a couple hundred other audience members at the Doug Fir by the sonic blanket that they quilted for us.
Walk in the Park opened the set, for a still skeptical me, and by the time the tremolo picking of the chorus hit, combined with Legrand’s lyric, “In a matter of time / It would slip from my mind,” I was captivated, all my cares forgotten, swaying and head bobbing with my glass of red wine like a love struck buffoon. Lo and behold, they had figured out their monitor issues in the past 11 months and sounded absolutely stunning. The composition of their songs are simplistic, but Legrand brings the gravity of her voice, and mystical, love lorn lyrics to give the songs power. Also, I have never seen someone dance so well with a keyboard. Decked out in a Miami Vice looking white blazer, crewneck t-shirt combo she head banged (yes, she head banged to dream pop) her auburn locks, while maintaining a totally sexy demeanor, making me once again envious of French women. They moved onto mainly singles from their previous two albums: Gila, Heart of Chambers, and Apple Orchard. But the main focus was on the more lush, fully realized songs from Teen Dream. I often judge songs, and live sets, on whether or not they take you for a ride, to a place where you lose yourself in four, or forty-five, minutes of bliss through a build in energy. Used to Be, a single which they released in 2008 and appears on Teen Dream, opens with a steady, canned drum beat and a piano chord, and ends in a beautiful, breathy single chord, accomplishing the aforementioned task somewhere in the subdued yet cacophonous middle. Then, there are the songs like Lover of Mine and Zebra which open with a defined rhythm, for Beach House, and get a toe tap or two out of the sea of pretty Portlanders I found myself lost in.
I play a game with myself before every live show I see: I try to guess what they will close with. This time, I won! 10 Mile Stereo is one of the strongest tracks from Teen Dream with a steady guitar line that drives the song, challenging Legrand’s voice, and when performed she and Scally seem to be playfully flirting for the audience through their instruments, a direct juxtaposition of the sweeping cinematic quality of the song itself. The musical duo seemed genuinely excited to play for their audience, and conveyed it through their attention to details, passion, and quality, and if I could I would buy us a round of drinks and we could sway together as the end of Take Care fades out. But instead I will most likely just keep attending their concerts, and wishing they played in Oregon more often.
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