Beach House - Biography
Beach House differs from most of their lo-fi indie rock peers in that atmosphere is a primary component of their music. They combine somber, psychedelic, washes of keyboards with tinny drum machine loops and vocalist Victoria Legrand’s husky vocals to create a glacial, haunting combination that sounds like it was recorded in a lunar cavern. Formed in Baltimore, Maryland by Parisian transplant Legrand and local Alex Scally (vocals/keyboards) in 2005, the duo spent the majority of their childhoods as dedicated students of the musical arts.
After gaining international attention via some tracks posted on the internet, the band signed with Carpark Records and issued their self-titled full length, Beach House (2006) to overwhelmingly positive reviews with Pitchforkmedia.com naming it the 16th best album of the year.
The follow-up full length, Devotion (2008 Carpark) broadened their sound with the addition of pedal steel, harpsichords and other eclectic instruments while focusing their atmospheric experiments into more structured songs. Devotion garnered even more critical raves and significantly broadening their fan base with the band embarking on a US tour in the spring of 2008.