Source: Album Artwork
Philadelphia punk-rockers Beach Slang made a hell of a splash when their debut album The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us came out. Now they return to grace our ears with their melodies once again, with A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings, an album that many people in the know are already secretly losing their minds over. But is it worth all the hype?
The first thing that must be brought to attention is the production. It’s hard to tell whether the production is Super Punk or actually just shit. Which side of the fence you sit on depends on how well you can deal with an album that (particularly in the vocals) sounds like it was recorded underneath a moving train. The instruments are just about passable, save the moments where the whole band is all going at it at the same time, which can sound just noisy rather than loud.
However.
All of this is immediately scrunched up and tossed in the bin once you get past the production and hear the songs. A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings has bouncy, interesting, thoughtful, melodic, engaging, entertaining punk rock of the best sort. ‘Atom Bomb‘ is like being transported back to a dive bar in the 1970s, but ‘Hot Tramps and Punks In A Disco Bar‘ sound modern, fresh and contemporary whilst still having one foot rooted firmly in the sound of the past.
One of the things that makes the songs on A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings so good is the indie sensibilities woven here and there through some songs that make them a little bit less aggressive, but far more interesting to listen to. ‘Spin The Dial‘ and ‘The Perfect High‘, two of the slightly slower songs on the album, are made that little bit more accessible through their use of familiar indie-esque guitar playing and simple-yet-effective drum patterns.
A Loud Bash Of Teenage Feelings is a pretty exciting album to listen to. It feels like now is the right time for a punk rock album like this to come out, and fans of bands like Milk Teeth, Muncie Girls and The Dirty Nil would do well to give this album a spin. It isn’t a 100% success all of the time, but when Beach Slang get it right on this album, my word do they get it so right.
