If you believe the hype (and the blogs), California’s Best Coast have made a life-changing, must-own debut record in Crazy For You. I’m not as convinced. Sure, frontwoman Bethany Cosentino and partner Bobb Bruno have crafted a warm, hazey, washed-out record with reverb-soaked vocals and some pretty killer melodies, but that can describe most noisy, pop-punk garage bands operating today. Frankly, I just don’t see what makes it all that special. And so it goes with hype, imposing insurmountable expectations on albums that might be otherwise decent. But to dismiss Crazy For You as overhyped hipster trash would mean missing out on what’s actually a pretty good record.

If one thing is apparent on a first listen, it’s that Cosentino can sing. Her delivery is clear, clean and powerful. The lyrics are more polarizing – such simple proclamations of longing, heartbreak and eventual satisfaction are as easy to write off as shallow as they are to admire for their sincerity. Deciding which school of thought you fall into is the biggest hurdle to clear in order to fully enjoy the album, but her vocal ability is enough to appreciate on its own merits, regardless of lyrical content.

Musically, the album gets a lot of mileage out of the key of G and songs follow a standard pop form. However, there are enough hooks and sing-a-long moments to distract from the fact that a lot of the album feels somewhat similar.

An album that requires some serious thought to appreciate this is not, and there are no musical nuances to discover on repeat listens. Rather, Best Coast is a “what-you-hear-is-what-you-get” kind of band, straight-forward and without pretence in every respect. If you strip away all of the hype, you get a good (not great) album which makes for easy and enjoyable summer listening.