Philadelphia-based garage rockers Beach Slang have just dropped their highly anticipated debut album titled The Things We Do To Find People Who Like Us. The full length effort sees the guys blend their undeniably engrossing brand of punk, rock, and pop to create that is nostalgic but new.
This record references the ghosts of the Replacements but keeps one foot firmly rooted in the present. It’s fun and it’s serious. It’s sad but it isn’t. It’s Beach Slang.
This Philadelphia-based act have built their hype the old-fashioned way, without any gimmicks or marketing teams, which makes sense when you consider that frontman and writer James Alex cut his teeth in the celebrated pop-punk act Weston while drummer JP Flexner, bassist Ed McNulty and guitarist Ruben Gallego also played in buzzed about projects such as Ex-Friends, Nona and Glocca Morra respectively. To celebrate the release of this record the band’s James Alex has given us a track by track run down which you can check out below. For more info on the record visit www.beachslang.com.
Throwaways
In my head, or my delusion, this was me chasing Springsteen. A punk “Born To Run” or something. I suppose I’ve always dug the broken-dreamer-romanticism of rock & roll. I don’t know. What I know is no matter how fucked up it gets, no matter how pushed aside we feel, we’re going to be alright.
Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas
I’ve always super loved The Jesus & Mary Chain, right? I recently fell across an acoustic recording of “Just Like Honey” and that thing knocked me out. Like, it had no place to hide—no fuzz, no reverb, it just had to be good enough. And, man, it is. I read this interview with Stephin Merritt where he said something like ‘only two types of music matter—pop and avant garde.’ That’s always stuck with me. And that’s what this song is—me trying to write a really loud pop song that would do alright in the no-place-to-hide-JAMC test. I think I’m getting closer to pulling that off. Maybe.
Noisy Heaven
I never want Beach Slang to feel one-note-ish, you know? I remember, when I first finished writing this, thinking, “this one’s a bit of an outsider.” I liked thinking that. It felt right. It made sense. And it was honest.
Ride The Wild Haze
This was the first song I wrote for this record. It was a rare, weirdo one for me. I had the “I feel most alive when I’m listening to every record that hits harder than the pain” lyric written before any chords or melody. That feels very reverse to me. I don’t know. I suppose this one was just meant to roar out and happen. I’m glad it made it.
Too Late To Die Young
Honesty is wildly necessary to me. There’s an importance in it. Man, I just really wanted this to feel vulnerable and brave and confessional. I wanted it to remind someone those are good things to be. I wanted them to feel not so ashamed anymore. I suppose we are all so alike that it scares us. I’ve never understood that kind of fear. And I just really, really love cellos.
I Break Guitars
The frustration of writing can be a really cathartic thing to write about. And I got to use (Tom) Waits as a verb.
Young & Alive
I like when life feels unbridled, when it feels urgent. I like looking out and seeing how possible everything really is. I wanted to say, ‘This is your life. And it’s happening right now. Go live it all the way.” Yeah, I wanted this to feel like that.
Porno Love
I suppose we all have this perfected idea of the place we belong. The longer I stick around, the more I’m finding everywhere has softness and everywhere has junk. And we are all just floating around between the two trying to remember all the times things got really right.
Hard Luck Kid
Never forget getting knocked down. But don’t live there, you know? You got back up. And you’re here. And that’s everything.
Dirty Lights
I knew when I wrote “I blur all this hurt into sound” this song would end this record. I wanted that to be the last thing I said. I don’t know, man, I really thought about this song, specifically the outro, as a weirdo, punk rock “Hair” or something. I just wanted good light to punch through. I wanted it to be an involuntary heart-sweller. I hope it is.
1982 (hidden track)
This is a loose, one-take demo of my favorite dive bar in Gainesville. Sometimes, you have the best night of your whole life without ever knowing it’s coming. This is about that.
