Bethany Cosentino fronts fuzzy garage-pop trio Best Coast, a band clearly inspired by '60s surf rock and girl groups. The California band is also an outspoken fan of kitty cats, evidenced by the cover of last year's breakout success Crazy For You and the fact that they let a team of audio- and director-cats get their paws all over the video for the album's title track. We phoned Cosentino on the tour bus for a very mobile I Should Watch That, in which the singer explained how The Sopranos is like The O.C. and why there should be more George Costanza movies.

Best Coast: “Crazy For You”

The O.C.

Recently I've started rewatching The O.C. I'm really into teen-drama stuff, which is really cheesy and over the top. I've seen the whole series, and it's pretty ridiculous but interesting.

Do you think teen dramas like The O.C. get an unnecessarily bad rap?

Yeah. I mean, obviously I don't take The O.C. seriously. [Laughs.] It's an entertaining show. Some of the characters and situations are pretty funny. But it's a cool show, I watched it when it was on TV. It had tons of awesome music in it. It's a California show, so I can relate to what's going on since I'm from California and I live here.

Does it ring particularly true to you as a Californian?

Well, basically you realize in real life that none of these people would be friends, but in a television show they work out as a great team. It's really ridiculous, the things that happen. Like, there's Ryan who's originally from Chino, so he's supposed to be the bad boy from a poor family even though Chino isn't a bad neighborhood at all. It's just about them growing up in Orange County and being teenagers in high school. It's kinda like Saved By The Bell in that they're friends and go through struggles together, they break up, they get back together. It's entertaining.

Do you find those sorts of shows always have stock character types that have to be present, like a "bad boy" or whatever?

Kinda, yeah. It's pretty much always the same thing. There's a pretty good [BBC] show MTV just remade called Skins. The MTV version is terrible, I watched the first episode and it's really bad. It's Degrassi but super-dramatic graphic Degrassi. They do lots of drugs and drive their cars off cliffs. [Laughs.] It's just really, really over-the-top teenage drama, but for whatever reason I gravitate towards that kind of stuff. I just find it to be really entertaining. They do all kinda follow the same sort of storyline. There's always a bad girl, and she dates someone who's not good for her. They're all basically telling the same story but doing it in a different way.

“They do lots of drugs and drive their cars off cliffs.”

The Sopranos

I love The Sopranos I watch a lot of The Sopranos. I like to watch a lot of stuff that I've already watched because I notice stuff that I never really noticed before. So most of the time I watch a lot of TV on DVD and I just watch the same thing over and over again.

To catch stuff you missed before?

Not really. I think it's like, you like this story, but there's also a comfort thing about watching something you already watched. Whenever I watch The Sopranos over I can remember the first time I watched it. The Sopranos is one of those shows where so much s*** happens that you weren't expecting to happen. So I'll watch it and I'll remember the first time I saw an episode and be like, "Oh my God." The same with The O.C. Like, [the character] Marissa, not to spoil it for you if you ever want to watch it, but she dies in the third season. When she dies, you're like, "What the f***? The main character just died?" [Laughs.] Then the show gets terrible after she dies. But when I rewatch stuff like that, I remember watching it and not knowing it was going to happen and being like, "Holy s*** I can't believe that just happened." It's just a comforting thing to put on and have on. I watch that stuff a lot of times when I go to sleep, and just fall asleep watching it. It's a weird bedtime story, but it works.

“I remember watching it and not knowing it was going to happen and being like, ‘Holy s*** I can't believe that just happened.’”

Robert DeNiro Movies

I'm really into mafia stories. Robert DeNiro is one of my favorite actors. I don't know if you saw the Golden Globes but he won that special [Lifetime Achievement] award, and they showed all these clips he's in. I realized there are tons of [Martin] Scorsese that he's in that I've never seen. I've never seen Taxi Driver, I'd really like to see Taxi Driver. I've never seen The Deer Hunter.

There's a movie he's in called The King Of Comedy that I've never seen that is actually a big running joke in my family. My dad's side of the family, they're all Italian, so they're all obsessed with Scorsese and all those Italian-American actors. I remember as a kid my dad and his brothers having inside jokes and not really getting them and being like, "What is that from?" And they'd be like, "Oh, it's from The King Of Comedy." I was like, "Okay, I'm 8. I don't know what that means." There are tons of those kinds of movies that I want to see.

Inception

These were ones everyone was talking about, so I want to see them. I don't really know what Inception is about, I know it's supposed to be really trippy and weird and there's a lot going on. But I love Leonardo DiCaprio. I've loved him since I was a kid. I try to see most of the Leo movies. He does some bad ones that are like, "Okay, I don't want to see that." [Laughs.] I want to see that, and I know what Scott Pilgrim is about but I just didn't get a chance to see it. I really like Michael Cera, I think he's a cutie. So I like to see what he's in, too. I've never seen Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist, I know he's in that.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

I don't really think it's a big deal that [Cera] plays the same character over and over again. I loved him on Arrested Development and that's when I first was introduced to him. He does always play that character, but that's probably how he is in real life. I think it's interesting when you see an actor who plays the same character in everything, because for me I love Seinfeld and I love George. But when you see Jason Alexander act in other things, you're like, "I can't take you seriously because I can only see you as George Costanza." [Laughs.] So if only Jason Alexander could be George Costanza in everything he's ever in, I might go see more Jason Alexander movies. You know? I don't even know if he's in movies anymore.

“I think it's interesting when you see an actor who plays the same character in everything.”

The Seinfeld curse might be preventing that from happening.

They should be thankful. I mean, I get it, you don't want to be boxed into one thing fully. I get it as a musician. You always want to be able to do other things without being tagged as this person who only does one thing or whatever. I like Michael Cera, I think he's really funny in everything, and I think he should keep acting like a quirky, indie dork. I think it's a good look for him.

So he should just ride that the rest of his life?

[Laughs.] When he's 50 he should still be playing that character.

Adventures In Hollyhood

Speaking of cheesy television that I'm into, but this was the Three 6 Mafia guys' reality show. I love rap, I love southern rap especially, but I think this was only on for one season because it didn't do very well. They all live in this house and it's ridiculous. When it was on TV, I remember thinking it was stupid but so entertaining. The show is cool because it's not just the main dudes in Three 6 Mafia, but it's their producer and entourage too. It's these really, really ridiculous dudes living in a house together. It's really bad but really entertaining. Again, going for that "you're not taking it very seriously but it's so entertaining" sort of thing. Bad reality television. That's one thing that I love about American television, just s***y reality shows.

“Bad reality television. That's one thing that I love about American television, just s***y reality shows.”

Who the f*** would want to have the shows that we have? There was a show on E! called Bridal Plasty, and it's literally the most awful, awful show. It's really entertaining, again, but the idea of it is so awful. It's about these women that live in a house, who are competing to become the perfect bride. If you win the competition, you get every kind of plastic surgery that you've ever wanted. Each week they all compete to win plastic surgery. If you're this week's winner, you get to go to the surgeon right after and be like, "Okay, I want to get my nose done," or, "Okay, I want to get my boobs done." It's the stupidest concept for a television show I've heard, but again, it's so entertaining. I can't imagine the UK is going to watch that and be like, "Yeah, we totally want to do a show like that." Pretty awful.

Coal Miner's Daughter

I'm kinda fascinated with Loretta Lynn lately. I know this is supposed to be the most fascinating, amazing movie and I've never seen it. I'm really interested in knowing about Loretta Lynn because I know she led a really interesting life. Sissy Spacek is awesome. Carrie was the scariest movie I saw when I was a kid. I've never seen her in anything else, 'cause I've always been kinda scared of her. [Laughs.]

It's funny because you mention reality shows and now country music, and those are two things that people kinda dismiss without really dipping their toes into.

I don't listen to a lot of modern country, but I'll hear a country song on the radio and be like, "That's pretty good." I'm more interested in the Nashville stuff that was coming out in the '60s and '70s. I love Dolly Parton as well. She had some really awesome songs and went on to do some not-so-awesome songs in the '80s. I like her; I think she's got some good stuff.

“I don't only like bad TV and bad teen comedies.”

I listen to a lot of older stuff, like '60s and '50s pop, but I've always really liked Patsy Cline and women in country music. When we were in Europe, my manager made me a zip file of country music because it's something I've always liked but didn't have an extensive collection of. So he sent me Loretta Lynn's Greatest Hits and then it rolled over into when I got home. From her, I downloaded a bunch of Hank Williams and then Wanda Jackson. I've been listening to a ton of country. I don't know too much about country documentaries, but I would be interested to find out more. I like documentaries. I don't only like bad TV and bad teen comedies. I also like serious stuff, too. [Laughs.]

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