Ballyhoo #1: Beach House - Teen Dream

Dictionary: bal-ly-hoo

n., pl., -hoos.

1. Sensational or clamorous advertising or publicity.
2. Noisy shouting or uproar.

tr.v., -hooed, -hoo·ing, -hoos.

1. To advertise or publicize by sensational methods

Welcome to Ballyhoo! This is where we will take a future release (an album, movie, book etc.), gather up as much news as we can and rant and rave about how excited we are for it! Why is it called Ballyhoo? Because other words like hype, promotion and hoopla are boring. Well, maybe not hoopla but regardless, it's called Ballyhoo. Today I will tell you all about one of my favorite bands, Beach House, and how they have a new album coming out in January! Fasten your seat belts!



Formed in Baltimore, Maryland, Beach House is a two person band consisting of Victoria Legrand on vocals and organ, and Alex Scally on guitar and keyboards. Their music is very hard to categorize. Fuzzy Dream Pop Shoegaze is the best I can do. They released their first album which was self-titled on Carpark records in 2006. It was praised by many critics and was placed on many year-end lists. Their followup, Devotion, reached even greater acclaim and is one of my personal favorite albums (a 9.6/10 in case you were wondering). Since then, Victoria has done some guest vocals for Grizzly Bear on the songs "Two Weeks" and "Slow Life", and Alex has helped the band Papercuts with their latest album You Can Have What You Want.

The band's third album titled Teen Dream will be released on Sub Pop records January 26, 2010. Consisting of ten tracks (one of which, "Used To Be", was released as a single in 2008), both members have said that the new material will be a little more upbeat and more exciting than their previous two albums. Sub Pop claims that this is their "greatest work to date".

Teen Dream was recorded in an old church called Dreamland in upstate NY. It was produced by Chris Coady who has worked with TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and many other bands. Sub Pop states that "the new album gives voice to a full universe of unbridled imagination, and the manifestation of Teen Dream has been a welcomed and all-consuming obsession for Beach House the past 9-12 months." A few of their older songs will be posted in our playlist to the right.



Teen Dream will be released on CD, and double LP and both will be packaged with a DVD containing videos for each song on the album. There is no album art released yet but it will be posted on here once it is. I encourage everyone to check them out if you get a chance and I assure you, if you like well-written songs that focus on perfect melodies and beautiful instrumentation, you wont be disappointed.

Teen Dream

1. Zebra
2. Silver Soul
3. Norway
4. Walk in the Park
5. Used to Be
6. Lover of Mine
7. Better Times
8. 10 Mile Stereo
9. Real Love
10. Take Care