This is catchy and smart as hell. Beach Party draws on some of the best stuff that’s happening in punk right now. There are the jangly guitars, the perfectly strained vocals, the dead-on harmonies… and of course there’s that mid-tempo, ‘90s alt sensibility—so easy to get wrong but so, so good when it’s right. I hear a little of each of the college rock regulars—Superchunk, Dinosaur Jr., Hüsker Dü, everyone knows the list—but it’s cleaner than that, somehow still fresh and new for all its nostalgia. Actually, maybe this is even more reminiscent of the buoyant emo bands that followed that era, particularly The Promise Ring. Say what you want about the recent overabundance of “beach” bands, but Beach Party have definitely earned their spot in alphabetized record collections (especially if you’re gonna be putting them next to Beach Slang). Would love to see this band venture down from Portland more often (hint hint); this is something a lot more people ought to be hearing.
–Indiana Laub (Sex Sheet)