– THE ROADHOUSE, MANCHESTER –
In the past few years there has been a rise in bands, in particular American bands, making guitar driven pop music that’s heavy on the reverb and dreamy in its delivery. Brooklyn-born outfit Beach Fossils seem to have been there from the start of this lo-fi invasion, as frontman Dustin Payseur started Beach Fossils all on his own back in 2009. Since then Beach Fossils have become a fully fled band, taking to road and now on their second full length LP.
Tonight’s start sees the band just at the start of a European tour in support of their freshly released sophomore effort Clash The Truth, which is wonderfully hazy, simplistic collection of songs for the slacker pop generation. The Roadhouse is nicely full as half of the band step onto stage beginning with both the opening and title track from their latest record as the other half of the band stroll onto the stage helping build the song to a climatic end as front man Dustin jumps into the crowd dancing and jumping around getting us all riled up. This a totally unexpected start from what I thought was going to be a super laid back show and I’m more than happy to oblige in the festivities. Don’t be fooled by their dreamy sunny disposition on record, Beach Fossils are much punkier and louder proposition live; their naive yet perfect guitar lines intertwine beautifully, the bass lines are full of groove and the drums are quick, tight and bursting with energy.
The crowd are in awe of the band tonight as the whole room is full of smiles and bopping heads. I even spot one girl who is concentrating so much on dancing like there no tomorrow, she’s not even watching the band; by the end of the set everyone seems to be totally suckered in to Beach Fossils instant and sumptuous melodies. The band seem to be really feeding off the crowd’s energy as Dustin calls the crowd “sweethearts” and gets everyone to sing Happy Birthday bass player Jack, so tonight is also a celebration of sorts and that celebratory vibe is most definitely in the air.
Dustin declares his love for “chavs” as the band bring their main set to a close with the sun soaked sway of ‘The Horse’ and the up-tempo bop of recent single ‘Careless’ complete with sky scrapping guitars and urgent drum fills. After a quick, energetic encore which features an invitation by Dustin to go “hang out and party”, followed by a stage dive, the band leave the stage to a pool of feedback and rapturous applause. A totally unexpected warm, fun gig, I was looking for an easy night, but I’m really glad I didn’t! As charming and as lovely as they are on record, if Beach Fossils re-created their live show onto their record, they could be on to something bigger than their super chilled surf dudes heads could ever imagine….
I joined the Silent Radio family near the very start of my move to Manchester in 2012 and I'm still having the best time! During my stay here I've been in two noisy bands, had a not so noisy solo project, made a zine, started a blog and started a radio show. It's been productive to say the least and it's all been intersperse with a shit load of gig going and beer drinking. I would love it if you followed me on twitter @dr_brainless for excitable tweets about playing, watching and living new music.
