Best Coast - "When I'm With You" [single] (2010)

Ear candy alert! I recently fell in love with L.A. duo Best Coast and when I calm myself down enough to properly process the entire album, I will review it for our lovely readership. In the meantime, feel free to enjoy my current favorite track... the plaintive, sun-soaked, reverb-heavy "When I'm With You." It's a personal reminder that it seems I'm not the only person out there who thinks life is all about biking along the coast, laying around on beaches, holding hands, and driving around with the top down, laughing and shamelessly flirting up a storm all over town. I seriously think I wrote this song (and directed/starred in this video) in a past life. Or at least my past life likes to dream the aforementioned on a similarly lazy, hazy, easy, breezy California day.

Miike Snow - "Animal" (Video)

"I change shapes just to hide in this place, but I'm still, I'm still an animal / Nobody knows it but me when I slip, yeah I slip, I'm still an animal."

Awww! I love quirky little Swedish indie pop musicians that make sunny, infectious singles that brighten up an otherwise gloomy winter day. With a lead singer that looks like a slightly more dateable version of Sebastien Tellier, Miike Snow reminds me of how exciting it can be to explore eponymous debut albums. Is it going to suck? Are they going to be my new favorite band? Both are unknown to me right now, but "Animal" just may be the most adorable single I've heard all year. It's a catchy, bite-sized morsel of indie goodness that makes me want to slap hands, kiss babies, and enjoy an ice cream cone at a ticker tape parade that feels like it's all happening just for me. And the video is simply delightful, unabashedly cutesy, and features colorful visuals and masks for animal lovers everywhere, particularly this girl who absolutely loves boys who love animals.

Enjoy the video for the feel-good song of the season:

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

The fact that I sent a mass email to QuickCritters asking for dibs on this review is a testament to how awesome Phoenix's new album is. Lame album art and title aside, it's pretty much been on repeat and is tied for the #1 release for 2009 (thus far) with Harlem Shakes' Technicolor Health. It seriously is my musical equivalent to puppy dogs, ice cream, and ticker tape parades for everyone!

A couple of fun facts: They're from Versailles, France (lucky bastards), the lead singer is Sofia Coppola's life partner, they have musical affiliations with Air and Daft Punk, and did I mention they're French? Mais oui, ils sont tres chouette!

The album: It's fun, upbeat, relaxing, smooth/easy vocals, there's pretty much a song on here to fit any mood you're in. When I heard their first single "1901" (free download here), I literally couldn't calm down... or sit still. It's so vibrant and danceable, which means it's slightly dangerous for driving music since keeping hold of the 10-2 position is damn near impossible. Or maybe that's just me?

Some shared feedback: "Lizstomania" is, as a trusted music friend described it, the kind of song that makes him want to "jump over a rainbow and swim in the pot of gold on the other side," whereas I feel it'd be the perfect song to be featured in a remake of Duck Tales: The Movie (here's hoping?) during a scene where Uncle Scrooge is happily swimming in his money bin. Then, regarding the Harlem Shakes vs. Phoenix album debate, awmercy said he preferred Harlem Shakes' album on an overall basis since "some of the Phoenix songs are great, others are just okay, although it does seem to hold together as an album." I definitely concur. However, since I think BOTH are great I just can't seem to pick between the two. They played SNL the other week and sounded pretty effin fantastic live, making them #1 on my musical must-see list for the summer.

My favorites: "1901," "Rome," "Lizstomania," "Lasso," and "Fences," but the entire album deserves multiple listens. Not because it's a grower, but because you may get hooked after the first listen. I sure as hell did.