Beach Slang The Things We Do to Find People Who Feel Like Us

On a recent covers EP, Beach Slang tackled songs by Dramarama, Plimsouls and Ride, and unsurprisingly, those groups feature as prominent influences on the Philly quartet’s full-length debut. The album overflows with scruffy power-pop, ’80s bar-band rock and grungy ’90s alt-punk, highlighted by Tim-era-Replacements cut “Throwaways,” the noisy thrash “I Break Guitars” and the no-brakes, desperate boogie of “Ride the Wild Haze.” The last song’s lyrics speak of feeling displaced and of possessing the belief that there are greater vistas to be conquered. As The Things We Do ... underscores time and again, however, that optimism isn’t aspirational; it’s achievable: “I feel most alive when I’m listening to every record that hits harder than the pain,” vocalist James Alex howls. Whether you’re still young—or simply young at heart—Beach Slang represents a roaring, riotous beacon of hope.