Beach Slang (photo: Alexsandra Wiciel)
Firebrand Saints is a new venue in Cambridge… actually, it’s a restaurant that’s starting to put on shows in the corner. Nevertheless, this oddly fancy looking bar/restaurant was the site for a matinee secret show for Philadelphia melodic punk band Beach Slang before they took to the Sinclair that night with Cursive.
Beach Slang weren’t a band 12 months ago. At the very least, they had no releases out and weren’t well known. When their two EPs dropped (Why Would Anyone Want Anything So Broken? and Cheap Thrills on a Dead End Street), they blew up. Now they’re supporting a tour with Cursive and heading off to Europe in a few weeks, and have had to put on quite a few secret shows during this tour just to keep up with demand to see them live. There’s good reason for that; they’re incredible.
Whether the subject matter of a song is happy or sad is irrelevant; Beach Slang puts forth all of their energy to turn the song into a reason to celebrate, sing along and smile widely. Guitarist/vocalist James Alex Synder’s banter also kept a fun tone, including a story about the band’s addiction to icebreakers, as well as his Harry Potter obsession.
There are few bands I’ve seen with such an impassioned and vivacious lust for life and it shines through in their playing and their personalities. If Beach Slang come to your town, see them. If they also play a secret show earlier in the day in your town, then you goddamn better see them twice.
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