Beach Music

Alex G - Beach Music
Critic Score
Based on 23 reviews
2015 Ratings: #546 / 1021
User Score
Based on 384 ratings
2015 Rank: #131
Liked by 60 people
October 9, 2015 / Release Date
LP / Format
Domino / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
SPIN

Beach Music sounds like an assembly of parts that could collapse in a minute were it not for Giannascoli at the center holding everything together.

80
Tiny Mix Tapes

Beach Music, Alex G’s first major wax-plated step outside the bedroom is predictably secure. But it’s also exploratory of his changing landscape, one that’s situated like unauthorized speech-class notecards, articulating each situation and character but still allowing for cracks and incongruity.

80
musicOMH

Beach Music never really settles into a groove with each of these songs sounding as if they’ve come from a different place musically and emotionally; although it is fair to say that Beach Music is perhaps a more melancholic beast to its predecessor.

80
AllMusic

Despite its experimental elements and trippy sensibility, Beach Music is relentlessly intimate, moving, and hard to shake -- a notable trait for a young if experienced recording artist.

80
DIY

Like the previous cult favourites he has to his name, ‘Beach Music’ hits gorgeous highs without making a big fuss.

80
The Line of Best Fit

Whether it haunts you, puts you in a dreamlike state, or simply makes you hum along, Beach Music is an album which should be listened to without hesitation.

80
The Skinny

Beneath the rough-hewn veneer and casual disposition there’s considerable ambition and imagination at play.

80
The Guardian

While this style of 90s US alt.indie is having another moment, G’s debut is the loner colt among the show ponies. His lush lo-fi recalls battered VHS tape recordings of MTV2 reruns found in a bin and lovingly restored.

75
Consequence of Sound

Beach Music feels like the work of an artist a few steps ahead of his audience, jumping to answer their expectations of a DIY darling taking on the trappings of a label. He stuck to his roots, recorded at home, and embraced his eccentricities.

75
The 405

Beach Music, which is a deceivingly simple title for an album of such depth, is the best collection yet from a young musician who has clearly honed on something truly worth noting.

72
Pitchfork

What is remarkable about Beach Music is that some of these arrangements beg for you to dismiss them, the way you might have the very first time you heard Pavement, but what at first feels sloppy and clogged is actually intricate upon closer inspection.

71
Northern Transmissions

We’ve just entered the fall season, but there’s plenty on Alex G’s latest album to suggest making “Beach Music” a year-round thing.

70
Rolling Stone

Beach Music finds him expanding stylistically, song by song.

70
Clash

This is the kind of generously tuneful, unobtrusive and - it must be said - grown-up record that can make drearily protracted work hours feel a bit more manageable.

70
Loud and Quiet

There is a seam of quality that runs all the way through this record, and Alex G is a young guy whose talent does in fact match his work rate and eagerness to share his music.

70
PopMatters
Alex G indulges his precocious genius for lo-fi indie pop on his debut album for Domino.
60
The Needle Drop
Singer-songwriter Alex G comes through with a detailed but somewhat bland combination of lo-fi and indie rock.
60
FLOOD Magazine
With close-mic’d acoustic strums, mournful, soft-voiced crooning, poignant lyrics, and experimental sonic whimsy, Alex G’s seventh effort does not sound like the kind of thing you’d throw on the stereo on your way to the ocean.
60
Upset
There may be a little too much studio sheen for comfort in places, but do not let the outsourced production and newfound finesse dwindle your expectations: a stoned bedroom demo vibe still resonates throughout ‘Beach Music’, making it a delicately dreamy listen.
40
The Observer

Beach Music now has label cash behind it, but sticks to bedroom aesthetics. Unfortunately, there is no great reveal here, in which a burgeoning talent steps up a gear.

SnowyFighter
81

Alex G is the king of short song titles

Woahhhhh okay this is my favorite one so far. It’s weird because I feel like this shouldn’t be my favorite one from Mr G, but it just is. It’’s a much more moody and patient record. I love the amount of variety here, and I feel like this album ventures off a little bit more than his past records. I really love that because sometimes it can get a little stale without it. A great example of this is the song In Love, which is my ... read more

nemgax
95

makes my heart happy

Melancoholic
60

Decent.

autisticprinces
100

I LOVE BEACH MUSIC :D

AKiepuszewski
90

The closest Alex has gotten to perfection

maybe I'm just a Brite boy but this album...I didn't know I needed it so much in my life

KINGKUNTA
81

My G, Alex

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Track List

1Intro
0:49
73
2Bug
2:39
79
3Thorns
2:50
79
4Kicker
2:50
84
5Salt
4:39
88
6Look Out
1:53
75
7Brite Boy
2:30
84
8In Love
3:30
84
9Walk
1:27
84
10Mud
2:00
81
11Ready
4:20
81
12Station
2:34
78
13Snot
5:03
87
Total Length: 37 minutes

Year End Lists

#10/SPIN
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Added on: August 17, 2015