Welcome to a bonus content review, wherein Your Humble Author both provides a review a studio album (as per our longstanding social contract) and also some thoughts on a live show in support of same. If you just want the review, it follows immediately. If you just want the concert review scroll down past the review.
But don’t do that. Get the full benefit of your primary school education and show those studies about the internet destroying your ability to focus who’s boss. Read the words.
Disc 1872 is… No Hard Feelings
Artist: The Beaches
Year of Release: 2025
What’s up with the Cover? The actual cover for this album is a close up of a woman wearing a white bra, nipple shining through the fabric like a dark star. Not that half-nip that Prince teased us with back at Disc 1833. Full – albeit diffused – nip. I have no strong knowledge of content expectations on either of the platforms this review will appear on, but I’m going to err on the side of caution, so if you want the actual cover you can see it on this Wikipedia page.
Instead I offer you this (not very) exclusive viewing of…the back cover! Yes, proof positive I actually own the album.
This should totally have been the cover, and it shows the four members of the Beaches evoking a “coolest girls at the party” vibe. Which is exactly what they are.
How I Came To Know It: I have been a fan of the Beaches since 2018, when my friend Nick said, “hey, there’s this pretty cool band called the Beaches playing a show in town – want to go?”
I did go I’ve been going to their shows and buying their records ever since. Thanks, Nick!
How It Stacks Up: I have either four studio albums and three EPs, or three studio albums and four EPs (it’s complicated). Due to precedent established on earlier reviews, I go with the 3-4 over the 4-3 for…reasons. Of three studio albums “No Hard Feelings” comes in second out of three.
Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4
The Beaches know how to make great music, and they’ve been doing it for a long time. I was excited to dive into “No Hard Feelings” but on my first listen I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. They have definitely continued to move away from their earlier sound into what I feared would be a more “generic” approach. However, multiple listens won me over – aided by a well-timed live show (more on that later).
“No Hard Feelings” deploys the Beaches’ most complex arrangements yet, which is not always a feature, as I favour stripped down production over a lot of layers. I found myself initially wanting a little less going on. However, after multiple listens the top-notch songwriting (lyrically and melodically) won me over. It also helped to get a couple rounds in on headphones. Free of the background growl of my car engine, I was better able to catch the nuance and creativity I think the band was going for.
Thematically, the Beaches love to dig into relationships, and a lot of their best stuff explores the ones that didn’t work out. All those break ups must be trying for the band members, but they sure know how to convert all that drama into great songs.
They’re also not afraid to explore the not-great choices that can happen during a breakup. Nasty “I hate all the things about you” lyrics on “Can I Call You in the Morning?” are paired nicely with Jordan Miller literally singing to herself immediately prior “Don’t do it, Jordan don’t do it.” Of course she does, which is both raw in the moment and brave after it, and results in a great song.
While the record has LOTS of break up/party songs (and ‘party after a break up’ songs that do both), the Beaches are more than just party girls. “Lesbian of the Year” is a thoughtful and vulnerable exploration coming out later in life that grounds and “quietens” the record at just the moment that’s needed.
Whatever the song, the vocals of Jordan Miller continue to star. Throaty, playful and totally unique, she has a talent for phrasing and emoting that ensures that every emotionally complex song on the record, despite all the production bells and whistles, will still make you feel the feels.
In the end, “No Hard Feelings” is a master class of how to make a fun album full of party-oriented music without ever shying away from the darker side of why we sometimes party a little too late, drink a little too much, or shout a little too loud. It isn’t easy to have a great time while still 100% owning your shit, but the Beaches have the formula down, and once again we – their audience – are the beneficiaries.
Best tracks: Can I Call You in the Morning?, I Wore You Better, Dirty Laundry, Lesbian of the Year, Jocelyn
The Concert: October 25, 2025, Save-On-Foods Memorial Arena, Victoria BC
This was my fifth time seeing the Beaches live, so I already knew what to expect in terms of their high energy, brilliant showmanship and talented musicianship.
We arrived early for the merch table, and a good thing we did, as the lineup was enormous. I love a good concert tee so while I held our place in line, Sheila went forward armed with phone to take a photo of the options. This is a good strategy if you want to avoid being a slack-jawed gawker when you finally get to the front (n.b. – you want this).
In this case, it allowed Sheila and I to assess that none of the options struck our fancy. I now have a LOT of concert tees, and I am becoming more picky. Tees that just feature a photo of the band are generally out, and that’s most of what was on offer.
Fortunately, I already have two Beaches concert tees, including a very old “original logo” one that I was wearing, secretly hoping someone would say “wow – cool old tee shirt” or failing that, that I’d overhear someone whispering, “wow – that guy has a cool old concert tee.” These hopes overlooked the fact that as a middle aged man at a concert full of the Youngs, I was mostly invisible. Whatever – I was the only one wearing it so…go me.
Anyway, we bailed on the merch and instead stood around in the common area people watching for a while, before taking our seats.
Valley
The opening band was another Toronto band called “Valley” which does music in the same general genre of the Beaches. Sheila (who, unlike me, listens to the radio) said that she knew some of the songs from there. According to the Internet, Valley was even nominated for a Juno (Canadian Grammy) in 2025. So, neat.
Anyway, Valley played inoffensive and occasionally catchy pop tunes that are exactly what I expect from the radio when it is having a good day, but also why I don’t listen to it. It felt like what you’d hear younger kids playing around their campfire next to you at the beach. Not offensive, and it could have been worse, but just OK.
The set notably improved for the one song where main vocalist Rob Laska turned the mic over to bandmate Karah James (sorry, Rob), but that was only for one song.
Valley had good energy overall, and I bopped along, but about halfway through I knew I would not be exploring their music further later, which is the main goal of any opening act.
The Beaches
The Beaches took the stage as they always do, with energy already dialed all the way up to ten. This was their first ever indoor stadium show as a headliner (they’d come to town opening for The Glorious Sons in 2018, but I’d already seen them live earlier that year as a headliner, and so I skipped that show. Also, I find the Glorious Sons very ‘not glorious’).
Any concerns that the stage would be too for them was instantly dispelled. This quartet of talent has been doing the live show thing for over a decade and all that experience and dedication has paid off. Everything they do that is awesome – the banter, the moves, the tight yet organic performance - translated 100% to the bigger stage. I generally do not like stadium live shows, but the Beaches did things up right.
The set was predominantly songs from their last two albums, and as I noted in the album review above, hearing the new album performed live I realized that it was written with this partly in mind. It elevated those songs and made me appreciate the new record in a way I hadn’t before. That’s the mission of the headliner and…mission accomplished.
It even rehabilitated their overexposed hit, “Blame Brett” which I thought I had heard enough time for a while at this point. Instead, with the lights and the crowd participation and the delivery, the joy of this catchy bit of pop magic was reborn. A true stadium banger.
Everyone in the band is a natural on stage, but none more so than frontwoman Jordan Miller who had the audience in the palm of her hands throughout and clearly loved and fed off the experience.
The Beaches are pretty strict about sticking to their new material, and this show heavily featured songs from their last two records, but they did a special section “just for our Canadian fans” of old songs. I’ve never seen them do this before and hearing early tunes, including some of my favourites from 2017’s “The Late Show” (concert and album reviewed at Disc 1131) was a special treat. They updated the delivery, so I wasn’t hearing a staid performance of old tunes, but rather a reimagined delivery of tunes with bones so strong they sound good through any treatment.
It was also fun when Leandra Earl dedicated “Sorry for Your Loss” the LA Dodgers, while wearing a Blue Jays jersey. Lest you wonder where the loyalty of these Toronto gals lay in the ongoing World Series.
The show opened and closed with their latest banger, “Last Girls at the Party” and that’s exactly what the Beaches are. They are also the life of the party, and if you get a chance to see them live, you should do it. If you skip the opportunity, well then – as band member Leandra would say – I’m so sorry for your loss.
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