Tape Slang

Few bands have got me excited this year like Beach Slang have. I probably stumbled on them in late 2014, picking up their 7'' that Tiny Engines released, and ever since rumours of a full length through Polyvinyl started surfacing, I haven't gone more than a few days without spinning something from this incredible band. When pre-orders came up for the new LP, I jumped on the Big Scary Monsters cassette. Normally I would grab an LP, but the Joyce Manor cassette BSM put out always sticks out as one of the best looking cassettes I own and so I assumed (correctly) that they would be on top with a tape of this one too. 

Beach Slang - The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us - Big Scary Monsters // Polyvinyl - 1st Press - White Shell - 078 /250 

This cassette sounds great, which is lucky as I've heard one or two people having issues with the B-Side with the LP coming off a little sluggish. Barely any surface noise and plenty of clarity to get all the low end punch this record has. One of my favourite things about buying a physical release from this band is how perfect the art looks. It follows a similar theme (for the most part), and you could almost pick it out flipping through the racks.

B-Side // J-Card 

Printed up shells always look cool. More often than not they're stickered or handwritten nowadays, and having them printed up almost gives them a little more of a classic look to me. I don't know, it's definitely great. 

The J-Card folds out and the text is a line from each song, and it flows together remarkably well, but I assume that was the intention! For us - All of us. 

The other side of the J-Card contains credits and this nice little story on how the album title came to be. James Alex is a great frontman, offering everything other than an apology for his sincerity. I don't think this band are really re-inventing any wheel as such, but the heart makes it more infectious than most. 

And here you see the numbering of 078/250.

Next up is their Cassette Store Day release. And I know this doesn't follow their normal look for their releases, but with good reason.  

Beach Slang - Here, I Made This For You! (Beach Slang Mixtape - Volume 1) - Polyvinyl - 1st Press - Red Shell /500 (CSD '15) 

I managed to grab this from the Polyvinyl Store as nowhere in the UK was stocking this. I get that Cassette Store Day isn't a huge deal, especially in the UK so it was nice to find this without a hassle. This is exactly what is says; a mixtape of cover songs played by Beach Slang. The Ride cover would've been enough to get me to grab this anyway! 

B-Side // Inner J-Card 

Again, we're back to the trademark Beach Slang artwork I love! 

This looks pretty convincing as a mixtape. My Mum's old car only had a cassette deck, so I spent an awful lot of time in my early teens making mixes for her car whenever we went anywhere. I'm likely to romanticise this more than I should as a result of that, but I don't mind at all. 

I have the previous releases across the two 7''s they were originally destined for. But having these together kind of makes me want to own the Broken Thrills cassette too. I'll likely never listen to it, but the weirdo in me likes things to be a certain way sometimes. If I ever grab it, assume you'll see it here. 

Cheers!