The California duo of Best Coast and Wavves played the 9:30 club on Monday, stopping by as part of their “Summer Is Forever” tour sponsored by MTVU. The two bands are inexplicably linked: Both bands are newcomers to the scene of independent music, both share a slight obsession with their home state, marijuana, Twitter and yeah — the two lead singers Bethany Cosentino and Nathan Williams date.
Wavves’ brand of skater-punk noise-pop is the project of Nathan Williams, the bratty punk-du-jour of independent music. Best Coast is the creation of Bethany Cosentino, a California native who writes and sings beachy indie rock songs about boys, weed, her cat and more boys, with a sound reminiscent of 1960s girl groups and lyrics that are beyond elementary — the number of times she rhymes “crazy” and “lazy” on debut album “Crazy For You” is probably unsurpassed in modern music.
The two bands’ rising popularity and personal connections has just been praying to be capitalized on, and MTVU brought these two beach bums to 9:30 for a night full of guitar feedback, repetitive lyrics and Twitter jokes.
Wavves played first, and gave a performance that was exactly what one would expect from an MTV-sponsored Wavves show — roadies threw beach balls into the crowd. Williams made a Kanye joke referring to his ridiculous-looking gold chains, some bros crowdsurfed, etc. The sloppy, brawling Williams of infamy was nowhere to be seen at 9:30, supplanted instead by a young man who sang relatively on key, remembered most of his guitar parts and even deigned to thank the audience every few songs. The crowd responded well to Wavves’ fast-paced live show, jumping around and yelling the words along with Williams, particularly to the new single and fan favorite “Post Acid.” Playing in front of a backdrop that featured a cat puking green goo on a beach while surrounded by aliens, Wavves were loud and brash, though the sets nonstop fuzzy guitars and whiny vocals left something to be desired.
Best Coast took the stage after Wavves to deliver a quieter and ultimately more enjoyable performance. Bethany Cosentino’s voice was stronger and throatier in concert than on the album, and her songs thankfully sounded less monotonous. The highlight of the set was Cosentino’s cover of Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City,” a song that showed off Cosentino’s substantial vocal talent. The crowd faithfully sang along to album standouts “I Want To” and “Boyfriend,” responding with laughs to Cosentino’s well-mannered banter about her cat, her Twitter and Justin Bieber. The set was solid, if a little slow at times, and gave fans a taste of new songs “Sunny Afternoon” and “When You Wake Up.” Cosentino’s voice is undoubtedly Best Coast’s most valuable feature, and the songstress’ performance (and accompanying swagger) proved to be the highlight of the night.
mmcdermott@theeagleonline.com
