Those Darlins/Best Coast

Last week, I saw that Best Coast was going to be at Beachland, and for $15/ticket, I figured we had to go. I'm not a huge Best Coast fan, but I like their sound - it's pretty and I like California. Plus, I like the Beachland, although it's a pain to get to on a weeknight, especially because the shows usually end around midnight, which means we don't get home until 1. For oldies like us, it's not ideal.

But sometimes you push through, and I'm glad we did. Otherwise, I never would have seen Those Darlins.

We got to Beachland during the first opener, so I have no opinion on that band (Filmstrip, according to my ticket). I was curious about Those Darlins - country punk is how they're often described. That about sums it up. Everything I'd read previously says it's three girls and a guy, but the band was two girls and two guys (the blonde girl was missing). I found a blog post on their site finally that says she left the band. Doesn't matter - they were fun.

We were standing right in front of some speakers so the sound was interesting. At first, the vocals were too soft, but they got that figured out. Both of the girls sing lead, but the one girl - Nikki, I think - sings lead more. She's got more of a country twang mixed with punk rock, and she plays lead guitar. She struts here stuff and looks crazy and cute at the same time. The other girl I think is Jessi, and her songs were more traditional rock sounding - and maybe she was sometimes trying too hard to be sexy. Not bad, I just dig the country punk sound more - although the Wilderness song was pretty neat.


BTW, they're playing Beachland again on Halloween - go see them. It's in the tavern, which should be super-fun.

Next up was Best Coast. The crowd definitely leaned toward the feminine, although there were plenty of dudes, some of whom were rocking out during the show. Best Coast sounded very good, very polished. Bethany What's-her-name is clearly the focal point, and she's good in that role. Very romantic, but she totally reminded me of a fashion blogger (as opposed to a musician).

I don't know that I would go see Best Coast again. Although they were very good, I just don't think it would be a different experience. I did listen to a few Best Coast songs yesterday because I was still feeling it, so who knows?