It’s easy to understand the backlash against Best Coast. Their setlist reads like a page ripped from a teenage girl’s notebook, complete with multiple song titles referencing boys and internet-speak shorthand like “Crazy 4 U.” Their lyrical content, on initial listens, does little to sway listeners from this perception of Best Coast songs as whiny high-school break-up tunes. Two of the choruses are repetitions of “I want you so much” and “I wish he was my boyfriend.”

Still, Best Coast singer/guitarist/songwriter Bethany Cosentino is a clear underdog. In their popular song, “Boyfriend,” she talks about her better-credentialed competition as being “prettier and skinnier; she has a college degree,” and the well-crafted pop songs on Crazy for You are filled with similarly depressing realizations that resonate with their universality. Simply put, everyone has days that really suck. Cosentino just knows how to write about them — in a manner that doesn’t skimp on the gritty details, but includes just enough catchy 90s-alternative-meets-90s-underground guitar hooks to make them sound palatable.