The 2015/1967 Countdown - 10/09/2016 Update

Today we return to our 2015 Dream Weavers mix, and share a few thoughts on a popular indie act that had a rather prolific 2015.

Beach House - the well-regarded though in my opinion often more sleepy-than-interesting dream-pop duo out of Baltimore, Maryland - released two full-length LPs in 2015 just two months apart, and both first release Depression Cherry and second release Thank Your Lucky Stars (recorded at same time as Depression Cherry in but incorporating songs written from a different time period) portrayed the band trying to simplify things after the increasingly complex production of prior albums Teen Dream and Bloom, but did so in distinctly different ways.

Depression Cherry was a straight-on retreat, not in sound but complexity only, to the simpler and less interesting orchestrations of their so-so sophomore effort Devotion.  It possesses a couple decent songs, particularly opener Levitation and Sparks, but for the most part didn't impress me.

Thank You Lucky Stars, however, was very interesting...showing the band trying to branch out for the first time from its very narrowly defined core-aesthetic...and it's a much better album than Depression Cherry because of this.  From the synth-pop of All You Yeahs, to the Velvet Underground-ish One Thing, to Elegy To The Void's phenomenal, Loveless-styled closing guitar solo (our representative track for the band's 2015 efforts on our Dream Weavers mix), I really enjoyed this album.