The Beta Band
Heroes To Zeros
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The Beta Band
Heroes To Zeros
Astralwerks, 2004
RiYL: Beck, the Verve, Mogwai |
Opinions about the Beta Band's music vary pretty widely, which is to be expected when a band so purposefully switches genres and defies categorization. I think their first full-length album, 1998's collection The Three EPs, is an enduring classic; most critics agree, but some trustworthy ones have even called it, to paraphrase, a mitigated disaster. Despite generally widespread praise, a high-profile slot opening for Radiohead, and a shout-out in High Fidelity (John Cusack puts "Dry the Rain" on in his record store and promises he can sell four copies of The Three EPs in a few minutes), the Beta Band has managed to float just below the consciousness of most mainstream pop listeners. Again, this is something which should be expected when a band so clearly tries to be odd, but their lack of commercial success seems to have really gotten under their collective skins, enough to break them up. "Eight years of hard work and critical acclaim but little return in terms of commercial success inevitably takes its toll," the band announced on its Web site in the summer of 2004. I'll happily and spuriously reinterpret that for you; surely they meant to say: "we are not making enough money to put up with all this."
So we know the Beta Band was never in it for indie-rock ideals, but they can't have been making Beta Band music to get rich, can they? Well, maybe they were, at least on Heroes To Zeros. The album's single and lead-off track, "Assessment," is a drab rip-off of (or tribute to?) U2's "New Year's Day" with a horn finale stuck on the end. The band picked a proven muse to tap if they were looking to craft a radio hit -- it's just too bad they did it so poorly. "Easy" is also eerily familiar; it sounds like Badly Drawn Boy borrowing liberally from Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." That's not to say it isn't decent and listenable, I'm just not sure it offers anything its direct influences don't provide. "Out-Side" is the track with the best chance of climbing the singles charts. It's a rocker with some pace and energy, a song the Breeders should cover, though I'm not sure their sound-effects crew could work in a barking dog, a squeaking shoe and a Nokia ringtone.
The album's best songs are the ones that aren't obvious copies of other people's big hits. Obviously. They tend to be its slower tracks, and some of them are quite great. Vocalist Steve Mason sings like he has a stuffy nose, but can really make it work. That's especially true when producer Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead, Pavement) unleashes his studio magic and turns entire vocal tracks, verses and choruses into engaging harmonies (Mason with himself, Mason with other band members). The best example of this sound is on "Space," a plodding funk dirge with positively ethereal vocals. "Can you break from the final stage, more or less / Do you sing to control your rage, more or less?" the band intones, and the listener rises and falls right along with them. "Space Beatle" also boasts winning harmonies, as "I love you to pieces" is repeated over snare drums and xylophones. (Yes, I think they're trying to convey something about spaciness and disaffection with these song names. No, I don't know which one is the space Beatle, but I wish I did.)
"Troubles," with a toy piano and a string section thrown in for good measure, is equally moving, though it may be the tune that should be called "Space Beatle" (or at least "Space Eleanor Rigby"). Both "Troubles" and "Wonderful", which emerges from a lovely moodiness to evoke the Zombies, bring familiar sounds to the fore. But this isn't the same dreck as "Assessment." Both of these tracks pull their 60s influences from the mothballs with some real creativity and spark, qualities the album's set of dull rockers doesn't seem to shoot for, even with a slightly more contemporary library to draw from. If the Beta Band wanted to take a shot at selling some records, perhaps banking on "Space" or one of the 60s tracks would have been the right way to go. They're familiar enough to get in the door at the radio station, but they still have something new to offer.
JEFF GRAY | Jeff Gray used to be an important mover and shaker in Chicago, but gave all that up to live on a beach in rural Hawaii. You'll notice him if you're there, he's the one who's very tall and a little bit sunburned. His musical tastes tend towards the mainstream -- Phish, Radiohead, The Strokes -- but he'll argue to the death that those bands are mainstream because they're 100% awesome. Jeff's always on the lookout for the next great pop song, tidbits about Michigan football, and 80's action movies on cable.