Four quiet years have passed for Swedish shoegazers, Westkust, since their well received debut, Last Forever. The band returned in 2019 with their sophomore, self-titled full length, once more released through Run For Cover, and again showing that they're just too good to fade away.
Westkust, like its predecessor, combines the standard driving forces of shoegaze with punk and surf rock, delivered with ardent enthusiasm, and sounding noisy and fuzzy in every respect, owning a whole lot to a thick style of production that helps the rowdiness shine. While this rather loud formula remains similar to band's previous outings, their decision to grant full vocal duties to vocalist, Julia Bjernelind, is what makes the crucial difference; the thing that institutes Westkust as a far better record than anything the Gothenburg act has done thus far. On the new LP the vocalic female/male dynamic is completely absent; a thing of the past, still, the band's lively and driving sound has more to gain through the expressiveness of Bjernelind's companionless delivery which stands alone solid and robust, momentously complementary to the group's exuberant musicality.
Although fairly wistful, Westkust preserves that right amount of sweet melancholy that doesn't overpower the feelings of buoyancy and blitheness which fluoresce in its brief set of nine tracks, most of which can be quite memorable.
Whether Westkust go through more lineup changes and survive to make another record or not, their eponymous LP appears to possess the allure and sublimity that they've been striving towards since their early days.
Photo by Julia Foster
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