Beach Fossils: self-titled (clear green vinyl) [BAYONET]

Why you'll love it

This Bayonet Records reissue comes on clear green vinyl with a matching green obi strip. The album first came out on Captured Tracks in 2010 and helped set the tone for the lo-fi dream pop of the decade, alongside DIIV, Wild Nothing and Mac DeMarco.

This edition

• Clear green vinyl
• Obi strip
• Limited edition

About the album

Most debut albums involve a band. Dustin Payseur left school in North Carolina, moved to New York in 2008, and started Beach Fossils as a way to stretch a solo project; by the time the live lineup came together, he'd written, played and recorded this record himself. Captured Tracks signed him, "Daydream" arrived as the first single early in 2010, and the album followed that May.

It's a warm, reverb-soaked record built on chiming guitars, loping bass and Payseur's laid-back, half-whispered vocals. "Sometimes" and "Youth" glide along on bright, looping riffs, "Vacation" and "Lazy Day" sound exactly like their titles, and "Golden Age" and "Window View" carry that nostalgic, sun-faded feeling the band became known for. Pitchfork gave it 7.8, The New York Times praised how it avoided sounding overly 2009, and AllMusic called the songs instantly catchy. Payseur later said the writing came so easily that, a day or two on, it sounded like he was listening to somebody else's music.

The early touring band included Zachary Cole Smith, who went on to form DIIV. Over the years Beach Fossils have gone through twelve different drummers, a turnover rate that makes our weekend shift schedule look positively stable.

Also at Kops: more Beach Fossils on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Bayonet (cat# BR-019), a reissue of the 2010 album.