Beach Slang (Quiet Slang) - "We Were Babies & We Were Dirtbags"

Beach Slang over the past few years has become quite frankly, one of my favorite current Punk bands.  I first got introduced to them around the time of their "Who Would Ever Want Anything So Broken?" EP was released.  This EP started off with a bang, with tracks like "Filthy Luck" and "Kids" being some of the most anthemic and memorable Punk tracks I had heard in years. But it was more than just loud, catchy Punk music that drew me to Beach Slang.  There was a serious sense of Nostalgia to their music, that wherever you are and whenever you're listening to them, you feel like you've heard it before.  It really ended up tugging at my heart, and I was truly obsessed with Beach Slang right off the bat. They continued in 2014 with the "Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street" EP.  This EP showed some crunchier guitars, but contained just as much nostalgia and catchy hooks, with "All Fuzzed Out" and "American Girls and French Kisses" being major standouts.  All I needed now, was a killer full-length album to sink my teeth into.  Which I got with 2015's "The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us".  This album took every sound and element of Beach Slang, turned up the volume, and made a seriously memorable debut.  Tracks like "Ride The Wild Haze" and "I Break Guitars" were intense punk anthems.  While tracks like "Noisy Heaven" and "Porno Love" were a little slower but just as gigantic.  The result might just be my favorite Punk album of the last few years.  From there, Beach Slang went into Covers mode, with "HERE, I MADE THIS FOR YOU Volume 1".   This was a small collection of tracks where Beach Slang was covering some classic tunes, something that on Paper, excited the hell out of me.  But this collection was just so lifeless and not nearly as nostalgic as they could have been.  Then last year, Beach Slang dropped their second album "A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings".  This album fell really short once again.  Yes, this album contains some of my all-time favorite Beach Slang tunes, like "Spin the Dial" and "Punks In A Disco Bar".  But once again, the timeless feeling of their early recordings just fell so flat here.  I just really wanted to hear Beach Slang go back to the nostalgic, timeless Punk band that they started as.  Thankfully, Beach Slang's second covers EP "HERE, I MADE THIS FOR YOU Volume 2" was much better, with their Modern Lovers and Jesus & Mary Chain covers going over wonderfully.  So lately, Beach Slang have been doing these Quiet Slang shows, acoustic and stripped down.  This may be just what the band really needs to do to get back on track.  These singles, have been quite frankly beautiful and nostalgic and wonderful.  This may not be the Beach Slang you remember, but we're gonna talk about this EP anyway.

(One of my favorite older Beach Slang tracks)

This short and sweet EP starts off with a reworking of their earlier track “Future Mixtape For The Art Kids”.  Now, right off the bat, you can clearly see what we’re dealing with.  That’s right boys and girls, this EP is going to be stripped down in a big way.  But if you heard about this EP in advance, you shouldn’t be too shocked.  No, this is all based on Cello and Piano parts.  And when I first heard that, I really didn’t know how to take that.  But if I’m being honest, I think this version is loads more heartfelt than the version we got on “A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings”.  Obviously, it’s not as punchy and explosive, even in the most intense lyrical moments.  But this is a completely different take on this track, and really adds new life to it.  It’s just so heartfelt and passionate and really makes this hit so much closer to home.  It’s obviously delicate and incredibly sweet, which is strange coming from Beach Slang.  But if you know what you’re getting yourself into, this is just a really interesting take on this track.  Up next is another reworking, that of one of my favorite Beach Slang songs “Bad Art & Weirdo Ideas”.  Once again, I really don’t have a single issue with this.  The very delicate sound of this EP continues to be very likable, but if you’re going in blind you’re probably going to have a bad time.  But compared to some of the covers they were doing, this really isn’t bad at all.  It’s very sweet and once again very charming, which may not be what you want to hear from Beach Slang.  But I think this stripped-down sound really takes advantage of some of the band’s major nostalgic factors.  However, I do have to say that if Beach Slang did more material like this that was more original and not a reworking, this wouldn’t be nearly as interesting or pleasurable. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzlHlLyEx4g

    Up next we get a Replacements cover, which is a band that I’ve always heard so much influence in Beach Slang’s music.  Now, I do see what Beach Slang was going for with their cover of “Androgynous”, and to an extent, they do a solid job.  But of all of the tracks on this EP, this is by far the cheesiest.  The nostalgia this band has always played so hard on is out in full effect, and that’s totally fine, it comes off very nicely.  But of all of the tracks to cover by The Replacements, this was not a good choice.  They could have done something so much more memorable.  This is the first time I really feel like Beach Slang’s obsession with sounding so retro is falling just so short.  Plus, some of these vocal passages are some of the more awkward I’ve heard from Beach Slang recently, sorry boys. On the other hand, their cover of “Thirteen” by Big Star is fantastic.  It’s very nostalgic, and sort of sounds really timeless the way Beach Slang spun this.  But a lot of what makes this cover great is what I love about a lot of Beach Slang tracks.  In a way, it comes off like it was one of their own tunes, to begin with.  “Thirteen” is one hell of a cover.  I’ve always had a suspicion that Big Star was an influence on them, but hell, Big Star influenced everybody.  Outside of that, this is a beautiful, sweet cover that comes off really well. 

Rating: 7.3/10

Genre: Acoustic 

Overall Thoughts: This is a pretty solid collection of tracks from Beach Slang.  For my liking, I would have loved to see them bump this up a bit with maybe another cover and another reworking, especially with how hyped this EP was.  But still, this is easily the most compelled I've been by anything Beach Slang have done since their "The Things We Do..." album.