live: Beach Fossils, Real Estate, Girls

"I've Got Wild Eyes"
Friday night at Water St's Monster Island Basement was one of the best lineups of the year, if not for the plethora of future stars then for it's unbriddled cohessiveness. Hats off to Todd P, who, once again, curated a night of near-perfect music from Beach Fossils, Real Estate, Girls and Kurt Vile & the Violators. Hazy surf-psych, lazy beach pop, narcotic Costello grooves and mega-feedback, it was almost as if the boundaries dividing each act bleed into each other, so that the revolving cast of musicians, actually felt like a revovling cast, rather than a drastic 180 degree turn taking . While Girls wowed me for the second night, especially their righteous cover of Vivian Girls "Wild Eyes" and Real Estate showed that they just keep getting tighter and tighter, the real surprise of the night was Beach Fossils, whom, despite being a one-man act on record, really fleshed their sound out nicely for the live performance. The band's short, remarkably clear sounding set include Bobka-favorites "Daydream" and "Vacation," as well as "Lazy Day", which continues Beach Fossils "I'm really baked and it's way too hot to do anything but pass out in the sun" vibe. While I heard muttering that Beach Fossils vocal effect may have been "a little much," I'm going to let it slide, as the warbled-flange is the vocal equivalent to someone muttering strange thoughts in your ear whilst passed out on the beach.

Beach Fossils- Vacation
Real Estate- Black Lake

Girls covering "Wild Eyes" at Cake Shop (Shot by Bill)


Girls "Solitude" (new song)