Rivera1

JosephineRivera
TiaJaynes
MUSC1040
26April2016

FinalProject:BeachHouse
SeveralyearsagoIwasbrowsingthroughanonlinemusicstorelookingfortheidealpair
ofheadphonesformyyoungerbrothersbirthday.InoticedatabthatsaidfreeMP3sonthe
upperlefthandcornerofthewebpage.Iwasthirteenyearsoldandhadjustbegunexploringthe
elementsofmusicoutsidethecomfortablehemisphereoftheradioandtop40hits.Iwasjust
approachingtherealmsofmusicdiscoveryIwasafreshfan.Iclickedonthetab,scrolled
throughthemp3s,andrandomlydownloadedafew,oneofthembeingTenMileStereobya
bandcalledBeachHouse.
Becausemusicissuchapervasiveaspectofoursociety,itsalmostimpossibletonot
onlyavoidmusic,buttonotenjoyitatall.Andwithintheplethorasoffansofmusic,thereare
thosewhoestablishafeelingofreverenceforthebandsandartistswhocultivatedtheirtastefor
musicandtheirhungerformoremorediscovery,moreexpansion,moreloveforthesoundtracks
ofourlives.BeachHouseisonemybands,andisthuswhyIveselectedtomakethemthe
subjectofthisproject.
BeachHouseisaBaltimorebasedbandconsistingofFrenchbornVictoriaLegrand,
nieceofcomposerMichelLegrand,andAlexScally.Whiletheirmusicalstylecontainselements
ofavastarrayofgenres,theyaremainlydescribedasbeingdreampop.Theyhavereleased6

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StudioAlbums:BeachHouse(2006),Devotion(2008),TeenDream(2010),Bloom(2012),
DepressionCherry(2015),andThankYourLuckyStars(2015).
WhenIdiscoveredBeachHouseshortlyafterthereleaseoftheirthirdstudioalbum,Teen
Dream,itmarkedtheprocessofmegoingbackintimetodiscoverthemusicthatmadeit
possibleforBeachHousetoexistinthewayithassincethecreationoftheband.Listeningto
BeachHousecausedmetotraceitsrootsofTheCure,CocteauTwins,Nico,MazzyStar,and
othersthatIrecognized,butdidntinvestenergyinto.WhenIlistenedtoonebandthatsparked
myimmediateinterest,itpersuadedmetolistentothosewhohadpavedthewayforthesound.

Thatbeingsaid,BeachHousesalbumshaveremainedrelativelysimilarforthe

enduranceoftheircareer.BeachHousewasgainedrecognitionandexceptionalratingsfrom
Pitchfork,thereigningkingofindependentmusicreviews,duringthereleaseoftheirselftitled
albumandDevotion,buttheytrulygainthemassattentionoftheindependentmusicsceneafter
thereleaseofTeenDream,theirfirstreleaseaftersigningwithindependentrecordlabelgiant
SubPopRecords.MarkRichardson,ExecutiveEditorforPitchfork,statedinhisreviewofTeen
Dream:

Itfeelsliketheproductofcareful,thoughtfulgrowth,bringinginnewinfluencesbitsof
mid1970sFleetwoodMac,sparklingindiepop,evenafewsoulandgospeltoucheswhile
maintainingthegroup'scoresound.
TeenDream
isastirringreminderthatgoodthingscan
happenwhenyoumoveoutofyourcomfortzone.(Richardson)

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ThetracksWalkinthePark,BetterTimes,andRealLoveseemtomosteffectively
andpoeticallycapturetheteenagenostalgia,acommonthemeinTeenDream.Theethereal
guitarriffs,useofthoughtfullyricism,andthesheerpoweroftheirsoundcausesaudiencesto
realizethatVictoriaLegrandisntinterestedinplayingthestereotypicalrolesofanangelic
femalesingingsolelyaboutbeingwantedtheirsoundisforcefulanddeep.Itisntabrasive,
butitcommandsmindfulattention.(Richardson)
Manyaudiences,fans,andwitnessesofBeachHousesgrowththoughtthatTeenDream
wasthepeakofthebandscareer,untilthereleaseofBloomin2012.LindsayZoldazwrites:

BeachHouse'sdecisiontocallthisrecord
Bloom
isalmosttooperfect.Overthecourseoffour
albumsthat'sexactlywhatthisbandhasdoneAndherewethoughttheydalreadybloomed.
(Zoldaz)
Intermsofgrowth,BloomseemstobetheadultversionofTeenDream.Thechangesto
theircraftandtheirusageofstructureisntblatantlyobvioustheyresubtleandrequireafew
listenstoBloombeforetheybecomeevident.Myth,Wild,andLazulicapturethefullness
andpowerofthesongsinthedreamiest,mostdesiredway,possiblyreinforcingwhyBeach
Houseisregardedasabedroom,dreampopband.(Zoldaz)Ultimately,theirsound,andmost
importantly,theirsongs,refrainfromstrayingtoofarfromwhathasbeenfoundtobelimitless.
Theyvedemonstratedwhatispossiblewithanelectricguitar,afewkeyboards,drums,andan
organ.
WhenSparks,asongreleasedasasinglepriortothereleaseofDepressionCherry,
carriednewelementsthatweredeemedunlistenablebymanyBeachHousefans,somefeared
thatDepressionCherrywouldgobeyondthesoundofBeachHousethatisthedrivingforcein

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theirsuccess.AfterthereleaseofDepressionCherryandThankYourLuckyStars,itbecame
evidentthatthesoundbetweenalbumsisalmostneverthesame,andthisisntnecessarilya
badthing.DepressionCherrystillgainedcriticalsuccessandwasdeemedtobeapunchinthe
stomachtothosewhodesiredthesamesound,similarlyrics,everythingthatBeachHousehad
beenuptothatpoint.(Greene)
Inaninterview,AlexScallyperfectlyarticulatesthemysteryandsensualityofBeach
Houseasawhole:

Thisisjustwhatwedo.ThisisVictoria'svoice.Thesearetheorgansthatwelike.This
isourband.Wearenotmakingsomesortofconsciouschoice,like,"Let'sstaythesame."
Ihateitwhenbandschangebetweenrecords.They'rethinkingbeforetheymakemusic
Writingaboutus,peoplehavesaid:Doweneedanotheralbumbythisband?
Thatonly
mattersifyou'rejustlisteningtosound.
Didanyoneeversay,"Doweneedanotheralbum
fromtheBeatles?"It'sthispatheticerawe'reinAlotofpeoplelisteningtomusicnow
don'tlistentothesongsorlyricsatall.Theyjustgo,"Goodtones"andthat'sit.But
we'reobsessedwithsongs.Sometimes,Ifeellikepeoplearen'tlisteningtooursongs,
they'rejustlisteningtothesound.

ThemostappealingfacetsofBeachHousearefoundinthewaytheycrafteverysong,
everysingle,everyalbum,tobearepresentationofwhattheywanttheworldtohear.Their
desiretocreatemasterpiecesandpourtheirenergyintotheirwork.Theyrenotembarrassedto
speakoftheirinfluencesandrefertothemselvesasappreciatorsandinterpretersofwhatthe
greatartistsofthepasthavedonebefore,inadditiontotheiroriginalmaterial.

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Inaworldofmusicwherewhatscomfortableisdesiredandwhatseasytolistentois
popular,itisrefreshingtocontinuetoreceivematerialfromBeachHouse,abandthatskillfully
allowstheirmusictocrafttheirmessage,andnotviceversa.Furthermore,beachHouseallows
ustofindthelinksbetweenbandsofthepastandrevisittheirwork.BeachHouseexistsforthe
appreciationofmusicasawhole.
Theconnectionsbetweenbandsgripouremotionalattention
becausetheydenotenothingifnottheconnectionsofthehumanexperienceandwhywerehere
tobeginwith.Perhapsthatswhymusichistorycoursesexistinthefirstplace,toillustratethe
unavoidableinfluencethatmusiccreates,whetheritbeonaspecificgenre,ortheexperiences
livedbythepeoplewholisten.

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WorksCited
BeachHouse.
Lazuli.
BeachHouse,BeachHouse,ChrisCoady,2015.CD.
BeachHouse.
Myth.
BeachHouse,BeachHouse,ChrisCoady,2015.CD.
Beachhouse.
Wild.
Beachhouse,BeachHouse,ChrisCoady,2015.CD.
BeachHouse.
Sparks
.BeachHouse,ChrisCoady,2015.CD.
BeachHouse.
WalkinthePark.
ChrisCoady,2010.CD.
BeachHouse.
RealLove.
ChrisCoady,2010.CD.
BeachHouse.
BetterTimes
.ChrisCoady,2010.CD.
Greene,Jayson.DepressionCherry:BeachHouse.Rev.of
DepressionCherry,
byBeach
House.
Pitchfork
August182015.Pitchfork.April20,2016.
Legrand,Victoria,andAlexScally."BeachHouse."InterviewbyJenn
Pelly.
Www.pitchfork.com
.

CondNast,9May2012.Web.20Apr.2016.

Richardson,Mark.TeenDream:BeachHouse.Rev.of
TeenDream
,byBeachHouse.
Pitchfork
January252010.Pitchfork.April202016.
Zoldaz,Lindsay.Bloom:Beachhouse.Rev.of
TeenDream,
byBeachHouse.
Pitchfork
May
142012.Pitchfork.April202016.