OK, so maybe they are a bit overhyped, but to their credit, lo-fi surf rockers Best Coast seem to have shit pretty much figured out.  Weed, Garfield, love lost and sunshine: these are the good things in life and Best Coast seems to get that. They also seem to get how to construct heartfelt, poppy, bubblegum-ballads about love and longing yet still be all crashy and shoegaze.  Pretty cool am I right? 

Yeah I get it, it’s been done before, and yeah the Shangri-La’s will always be “Leader Of The Pack,” but Best Coast still hits the Unken list of stuff to get drunk with.  Bandmate Bobb Bruno’s obvious affinity for 60’s surf pop doesn’t hurt their cause either….OK, Best Coast isn’t bringing a lot of groundbreaking innovation to the table, but with all sorts of indie scene street cred flying their way and a new movie star or rock legend giving them props every day, it seems that no one minds all that much.
The Best Coast show at The Triple Rock last night was the best thing anyone could’ve hoped for, in fact I’d say it was pretty good.  Best Coast is more or less one big whimsical droning song and yeah, that might get irritating except it’s poppy as fuck and beers can appease that kind of thang.. If that song goes on for another few albums will the appeal run out? Maybe. Will we all hate them? Probably not.  Hey, it’s catchy shit ya know?

Dr. Unken caught up with Bobb Bruno of the band before they went on to ask him a few questions about influences, Jim Beam and feminism.

When was it that you joined on to this project? How did Best Coast come about?

I was in it from day one.  Bethany was in New York and she called me and said “I’m moving back to L.A., I’m starting this band and I want you to do it with me.  We had already known each other from Pocahaunted, and so it just kind of went from there.

What are you drinking?

-Jim beam on the rocks.

What’s Bethany drinking?

-She recently got into Jim Beam, she has a gluten intolerance so she was drinking Bud Light a lot because it has almost no gluten but now she is getting into Jim Beam.  Ally drinks 3 Olives vodka.

What would you say influenced the Best Coast sound?

Well My Bloody Valentine obviously, 4AD, Red House Painters, The Cocteau Twins…

What bands do you like a lot that you’ve been playing with?

Well, Male Bonding, who is about to go on now, are good.  We just finished doing a bunch of shows with them.  Cults too, they’re really great.  For our next European shows we are taking out The Spectrals who are amazing.  They just put out something amazing, and also No Joy from Montreal, they’re great, they’re on tour with Dungen right now.

What do you say in rebuttal to people saying you guys might be sort of anti-feminist because of the kind of “boy crazy” crush-centric tone of your lyrics?

I think it’s ridiculous, I mean I don’t want to compare ourselves to bands like The Crystals or The Shangri-las but if we do, or if we even look at early Beatles, it’s all like that. I grew up listening to that stuff.  I never thought those songs were sexist or anti-feminist, I mean “I Want To Hold Your Hand”? Are we not allowed to write songs about longing?  it’s just stupid.  It’s like they think that every band that has a girl singing is supposed to be like riot grrrl?  I just think it’s foolish, if anything, that’s a sexist way of thinking.

So then are you all pretty into The Shangri-La’s and The Crystals?

Yeah, and also The Beach Boys.  Before Bethany and I ever got together to make a band, we would just hang out and I have a really big collection of Beach Boys bootlegs. She would play me stuff that she was into, 70’s and 80’s Fleetwood Mac was big too, that’s our big bonding thing that we’re both into.

What bands are you listening to right now?

Well, the band Those Darlins from Tennessee, and The Mynabirds who are on Saddle Creek.  Also Oneohtrix Point Never, and Nachtmystium.

What’s your reaction to the fact that people like Bill Murray and Thurston Moore have expressed a genuine love for Best Coast?

-We’re just blown away, it’s awesome.  Recently Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and Mark Hoppus from Blink 182, two people that Bethany really loves and grew up listening to, have both tweeted about Best Coast. Hoppus did a thing for Spin about how he likes the band.  I was talking to Jon Brion a few weeks ago and he told me how much he likes us and that really meant a lot.