Westkust

Album review

After a host of lineup changes, Swedish group Westkust returns with their second full-length, following 2015’s Last Forever. What emerges on these nine songs is a memorable blend of shoegaze’s all-encompassing wall of sound and fast tempos suggesting more than a little punk rock in their DNA. That blend of sonic influences is at the forefront on “Drive,” which juxtaposes a bristling guitar melody with a more plaintive one, creating an effect that’s simultaneously narcotic and urgent, and on the resounding melody that begins album closer “On the Inside.” The range of vocalist Julia Bjernelind goes a long way to help the group achieve that complexity; it might cause one listener to bliss out and another to dance maniacally. The band isn’t exactly subtle with some of their titles — “Cotton Skies” and “Rush” both give a solid sense of what to expect before you’ve pressed play. But Westkust isn’t necessarily looking to destroy and remake genres; instead, they’re finding their own place where a few memorable ones overlap. © Tobias Carroll / Qobuz