If you haven’t listened to Best Coast’s 2010 release Crazy for You, I highly recommend righting that wrong immediately. This album is flawless front to back—so much so that it makes my top 15 albums ever. 

It’s the perfect album to listen to when you’re missing someone. When you’re annoyed by someone you love. When you’re bored and lonely. And especially when you’re in a beachy stoner daze, as Bethany Cosentino sings in “Goodbye”: “And nothing makes me happy/ Not even TV or a bunch of weed” and again in my personal fave “Our Deal”:

When you leave me

You take away everything

You take all my money

You take all my weed.

Each of the thirteen tracks flow together, hit after hit delivering clear pitched, vocal-heavy surf sounds mixed with guitar and drums. I’ve had each stuck in my head over the last 10 years, namely “Boyfriend,” “Crazy for You,” and “When I’m With You.”

“Bratty B” was far from making it into my faves as an earworm… until two days ago and I haven’t been able to shake it loose since.

Listening activity: Listen during one of these 60 degree February days when you’re pining for summer energy.

The lyrics are fun and light. We get the impression the speaker is a bit needy, a little forgetful (cuz the weed!), and honestly, quite bratty: 

I wanna see you but I know I can’t

‘Cause you’re not home, you’re never home

I can’t remember why you left

And why you took back all your stuff

I’m sorry I lost your favorite t-shirt

I’ll buy you a new one, a better one

This speaker is someone who is used to getting what they want. That sentiment can be felt in the frank delivery of commands like “Pick up the phone, I wanna talk” and “Hop on a plane/Come back and see me.” The annoyed, intentional tone is both demanding and endearing when peppered between repeated “I miss you”s.

The earworm, carried by Cosentino’s gorgeously clear pitch, literally makes me laugh out loud: “I promise I won’t be such a brat/ If I promise you anything, I promise you that.”

Classic bargaining from a speaker who is ready to throw a tantrum, albeit a chill tantrum, since it’s meshed with California energy after all. I absolutely love this line and the self-awareness. No one wants to be called a brat, but considering she’s been serving sass the whole song, this promise is hard to believe even though it’s repeated, and it’s hella relatable. The simple truth, appreciation, and pining for that comes from losing something or someone you want back.

This is an easy listening, California dreaming, reverby jam sesh. You’re going to want to sing these songs out loud.