Five-piece dream pop band Pleasure Beach released their first self-titled EP last month. The EP features three songs, with track “Go” fittingly starting the collection off. The very first notes bring to mind immediately, and without conscious effort, the opening notes of Springsteen’s “Dancing in The Dark;” the lyrical sound follows through on the similarity. It seems almost sampled, the parallels are so on point. I love the ‘80s vibes emanating from this track, making it my favorite on the EP.
High-energy “Go” is followed by “Dreamer To The Dawn” (my second favorite off of the EP), which has musical breaks, and a title, almost reminiscent of The Killers, circa Sam’s Town, in vibe. “Dreamer To The Dawn,” like “When You Were Young,” for example, is at the same time a chill track and a track that makes you want to sing along and jam a bit in your car. Final track “Hayley” is much slower than the other two songs on the EP; vocals are deeper, lyrics are lengthened and instrumentation is dulled in this more ballad-y song. “Hayley” probably epitomizes Pleasure Beach’s dream pop identification the most: the abrupt breaks in sound, accented by an electric chord, bring the listener back to the present. Overall, the EP is quite great, and I’m personally looking forward to whatever Pleasure Beach releases next.
Since Pleasure Beach is based in Belfast, you may not get to see them on tour just yet, especially if you live in the U.S., though the band has announced that they will be doing some shows. Make sure to keep up with their Facebook page and stream their EP on Soundcloud or Spotify.