Countdown to the End of TIMJ #8: Los Angeles duo Best Coast, led by Bethany Cosentino, released their third full-length album California Nights earlier this year. The group takes inspiration from '50s and '60s girl groups, which they've explored through various production approaches: the lo-fi fuzz of 2010 debut album Crazy for You, the misguided Jon Brion sessions of 2012 sophomore effort The Only Place that found them stripped of their essence, and then the 2013 EP Fade Away where they hit a stride allowing a solid studio sound without slickness or over-manipulation. This continues on California Nights, their finest work to date. The songwriting is still relatively simple and based on classic tough-edged pop forms, but the world will always have room for strong variations on this theme. I've known since day one that Cosentino was a very gifted writer and hope that the good run of the past couple of years continues with more fantastic pop records in the future.