I must admit that with Beach House, I’m a bit of a johnny-come-lately. People have been raving about them for the last few years, and I only started to fall for them a few months ago when a good friend played their song “Gila” for me.

Why’d it take me so long? Because as I went further into my twenties I became more of an old man, preferring to mine McCartney’s solo career instead of digging through new music. Honestly, it’s hard to read a popular, well-reviewed new novel when you haven’t read Moby Dick, innit?

But I digress. Last night I went out to the Bell House for the show in honor of the release of Beach House’s third full-length album, the wonderfully titled “Teen Dream,” out yesterday on Sub Pop. I’ve been listening to the record endlessly lately, and it just keeps opening up more and more for me. The show lived up to the record, and its title. It made me shake off my old man dust and go to the front of the room like a teenager. I wanted to make out with every song they played. I’ll also say this — if there were a drug called Beach House, I would gladly take it.

Their voices work brilliantly together — he (Alex Scally) provides the ethereal atmosphere, and she (Victoria Legrand) lowers the boom. Perhaps if Nico had swapped ennui for deep emotional investment, or had just been raised on the English language, this is how she would have sounded. The emotional and melodic nuances of Victoria’s voice separate them a great deal, but to me they share a similarly commanding and compelling vocal presence.

I’m not a photographer…yet. So, in the meantime, check out some lovely photos over at up-and-coming music website Pitchfork. As a special Take the Handle treat, Here are a couple little videos I took. They don’t hold a candle to the live experience, but perhaps they’ll give you a hazy feeling of what the show was like. Check out when Legrand makes the astute observation that a record release party is a little like a fascist birthday party…