Beach Fossils - Somersault
(Bayonet)

After a successful first phase of the band, Beach Fossil's Dustin Payseur was at a bit of a crossroads. In the past, he had lost collaborators Cole Smith and John Pent full time to their other bands (DIIV & Heavenly Beat respectively) but he was able to hit back with the solid and more punk infused sound of Clash The Truth in early 2013.  It’s been 4 years since that LP and in that time, Payseur started his own label (Bayonet), and began gestating songs and stylistic tendencies in more of a pop mold. The shimmering jangle of Beach Fossils makes its return on Somersault mining some of the same territory as their contemporaries Real Estate with breezy melodies, haze-filled textures and a heaping pile of pop hooks. 
While many of today’s current indie bands are embracing R&B and Soul, Beach Fossils have gravitated towards more symphonic sounds with talismans like Pet Soundscertainly exerting some influence on the production. “Saint Ivy” excellently utilizes strings and sweeping chord changes while fuzzy and tight guitars check in between the chorus. “Social Jetlag” nicely plods with lo-fi drums, twinkled piano alongside a late night, rain-filled ambiance. Beach Fossils don’t abandon songs with some pace as “This Year” rolls out thick acoustic strumming and lovely electric accompaniment and a very bright melody while “Tangerine” employs a similar formula with the bass nicely coercing twin electrics and propulsive drums to beautiful heights, (augmented by Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell’s backing vocals).
All in all, a nice follow-up by Beach Fossils and a shining LP to commence your summer. (Dom)
Check out a track here.