beulah-coast-is-never-clear.jpgThis week the Onion A.V. Club is spotlighting Beulah’s third album, The Coast is Never Clear, as part of their series “Permanent Records: Albums from the A.V. Club’s Hall of Fame.”  It’s an interesting analysis which places the band’s notorious moodiness in contrast to its concise lyrics.  I won’t argue with the selection – I think it’s a great album – but it should also be noted that this is the moment when Beulah fans were suddenly split down the middle, some disliking their new, slightly more polished sound.  This was also a record that sat around for a long time before it was released, due to a dispute with their former label (it eventually came out on the fledgling Velocette Records).  For me, I can’t separate the album from 9/11/01, the day it was released.  Later that month I was driving through the Utah salt flats while playing the record, and at a rest stop saw that someone had formed the word “Peace” using stones and pebbles on the clean white ground.  (I don’t know what that has to do with Beulah’s album, but at any rate, that’s what I think of.)  You can read the A.V. Club’s write-up here.