what will you do when your suntan is fading and the summer's gone?

#18- Beulah, The Coast is Never Clear (2001)

In keeping with Brandon's Neutral Milk Hotel post, I'll keep the Elephant 6 theme going here. I'm really starting to realize how subjective these ratings are for me, depending on the mood or the day. Do I really like that Tracy Chapman album better than The Cars? Is this really my 18th favorite album? My top five are pretty solid, but other than those I feel I'm pretty much making it up as I go along. So, this is the one I pulled out of the air at the moment.

It was late summer of 2001, we had just moved to Cincinnati and I was in the glorious period after moving to a new locale but before beginning the soul-crushing experience that is grad school. And, Melissa was working full-time, so I had lots of time on my hands. The local alternative rag recommended this album for anyone "Jonesing for the new (then-delayed) Wilco album" (was I?!?) On good faith of the review and smooth cover art, I plunked down my $12 at the record store and gave it a listen. And I enjoyed it. That's all.

Then, in March of that year, after a grueling winter quarter I collapsed on a beach of the gulf coast of Florida, pulled my hat over my eyes, and put in this disc (yes, Sugar, on a Discman). This time the confluence of setting, emotional exhaustion, and music clicked, and I began to love this album. I would best describe it as "Indie-country-jazz-pop for lying on the beach" Comparisons to Summerteeth-era Wilco or Granddaddy are apt - indeed, I think Tweedy & Co. toured with Beulah before Summerteeth, so there was no doubt some mutual influencing going on. The lyrics are often jarringly incongruous, such as in the seemingly upbeat pop/rock number "A Good Man is Easy to Kill" which upon closer listen is the protagonist, speaking to the object of his affection in a coma, unable to focus on anything but his own insecurity about love: "When you flew through that windshield / And your life passed reel to reel/Was there a bit part for me?"

This album won't change your life and didn't redefine the direction of pop music or anything, but damned if 5 years later I don't still find it really enjoyable.


Standout Tracks: Gravity's Bringing Us Down, What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades, Gene Autry (which has the best horn solo in a pop song ever. Period.)
Best Listened To: On summer evenings with an alcoholic beverage and a nice breeze