The second record. The dreaded second record. Make or break a band. Or so they say. Personally, I just think it is some kind of superstition or whatever to shit up a band. Don’t buy into it. Don’t believe what anyone ever tells you. The only place you’ll find truth is in a Spiderman comic. But does that mean you have to believe me? You can if you want.

I’ve been hopelessly and stupidly in love with Best Coast for the past 2 years or so. I heard Boyfriend and I felt like I had heard the song that’d change everything for me. Obviously I substituted Girl for Boy, the song always holds so much for me. The debut record just reminds me of Summer. Every day since I bought it 2 years ago, I’ve played it. I’ve played it to death, and I’m not entirely sure if I am ready to let it go and open myself up to the new record. I mean, can I really love The Only Place as much as I love Crazy For You? Well, as someone who foolishly has a lot of love to give; I can. I can truly love this record with all I have.

Alright so some naughty so and so has uploaded it to YouTube, but I need cheering up so I decided to listen to it. I WILL be buying The Only Place when it comes out, so its okay. I don’t illegally (or legally) download music. It’s pointless. I need to have the record in my hands. The Only Place is so fucking different from Crazy For You. Those who want that same ol’ lo-fi vibe, go back and listen to Crazy For You and refuse to open yourself up to something new (you boring sods!) The Only Place is more 60s girl groups than anything else. Tales of heartbreak with big drums, it’s the perfect merge of topics and sounds. Maybe I am just utterly biased towards Best Coast. I just think Bethany has one of the best voices around. So it isn’t as big/bold as..whoever- that’s why I love her. You can pick up on every tremble, crackle and sense of vulnerability in her voice. You cannot pick up on lonely feelings in something that is overproduced. If you are seeking Crazy For You all over again, then well, I guess the only thing these two records have in common is that Bethany allows you to truly connect with her, and relate to every word she is singing.

There is so much heartbreak on this record, and at times a sense of not feeling good enough. The feelings that we all feel at some point. The feelings that make us human. You should never be ashamed of that. It is totally okay to feel that way, I guess it keeps you going. Sometimes the worst feeling you can possibly imagine keeps you going. This is why I just love Best Coast. The way in which Bethany touches on these topics makes it totally okay for you to be eating cold pizza at 3am in ripped jeans, watching really bad tv shows and crying at animal rescue adverts. The alternative is sleep, but not all of us get to experience that. What I’m trying to get across is that, Best Coast make it okay for you to hit rock bottom. They make it okay for you to feel low and to currently be worthless. They give you hope. Enough hope to get through the Summer. Enough hope to go through Hell and back.

I should probably mention certain songs, right?

How They Want Me To Be is on there. I’m so fucking happy about that, because that song came out at a really vital time for me. Like, it is okay to be who you truly are although others want you to be a certain way. Never ever do that. Never give in to what people want and expect from you. Dreaming My Life Away makes you want to just lie on a bed of water and float away some place without any way of being contacted or bothered. You will find utter peace in this record. I’m pretty sure Dreaming My Life Away could be my favourite, for now.

I adore Better Girl. I think most of us want to improve who we are, and what we are. Songs like this make it easier to accept this. Changing is difficult especially when others call you out on it. Bollocks to it all! Do what makes you happy, and be honest with yourself. I’ve got a lot of love reserved for the song, Last Year. I’ll call that one out as a favourite too.

From listening to this record, I seem to have learnt a lot. Maybe I knew it all along, and I needed Best Coast to drag it out. Sure you can sense some of that lo-fi vibe, but it is NOTHING like Crazy For You and that’s not a bad thing. I say this a lot, but you truly cannot expect a band to keep making the same record over and over. This is why certain bands last because they keep changing with every record. You can find this in the works of The Kills, Placebo, IAMX and of course, Best Coast. To constantly sound the same over and over shows you haven’t grown. We are always changing whether we like to admit it or not. When one of your favourite bands changes their sound on every record, you feel at ease with the concept of changing. It makes it easier.

The Only Place is not just the perfect album for the Summer. It is one of the most perfect records I’ve heard this year, and I spend every day listening to Music. It isn’t easy to make a second record that competes with the first, but Best Coast have done it. I’ll probably end up playing this every single day much like I did with Crazy For You..for 2 years solid. I think that justifies just how brilliant Best Coast are. We need them.

Oh and also, pretty much backs up my theory on duos being the best!