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Three years ago, back in 2008, The Beets began their garage-y, sporadic, and minimalist percussion rock up in New York. After a few years of scraping under the radar and keeping to punk scene of up north, The Beets have made their way into the eye of those previously unfamiliar with their lo-fi stylings. Although still lo-fi in nature, this band has come a long way from their original sound, which was muddied to the extent that it consumed the entirety of the music. After cleaning up their sound and holding on to the best bits, they are able to emerge as skilled crafters of the garage sound.
First up is “You Don’t Want The Kids To Be Dead,†which gently eases you into the fuzzy, campy sound that the Beets are doling out. Juan Wauters’ mousy voice wavers with the jangle of the guitar and the soft drum beats barely making themselves apparent. It establishes the lighthearted attitude that is the backbone of the sound on this album, and allows you get familiar with this breezy style of jam, if you hadn’t already waded into the waters of The Beets. Up next is “Now I Live,†relying on the vocals to carry it through the minute and a half in which it lasts, until the third track “Preso Voy,†is up. Third up, this song is entirely in Spanish, which if anything increases the interest level, latching onto syllables belted out with heightened emotion.
As far as this style of records go, The Beets follow the pattern that has become synonymous with punk-garage rock: more than ten songs of which only one reaches above the three minute mark. However, whereas most bands tend to fall victim to this structure, The Beets manage to use it to their advantage, avoiding that dreaded repetitive monotony that can sometimes accompany such choppy albums. You have songs coupled together such as “As The World,†which relies on feminine ooh’s to keep it chugging along, and “I Don’t Know,†which comes across as one of, if not the most, old-timey songs on this album. Together, they balance each other out, to make for a meet in the middle groove, keeping The Beets above banal sound and makes for a standout among other releases of this genre.
Let the Poison Out is sure to live in your CD player for a while; its brevity ensuring that you’ll be singing right along in no time.
After the release of Upper Air, I am pretty sure that anyone who has had a listening experience with Bowerbirds has fallen totally in love with the group. They create sweeping folk songs, carefully crafted and destined to delight listeners. You might have to wait until March 6th to hear the Clearing, the group’s new record for Dead Oceans, but you can preview a track from the album right now. It’s a really incredible track with singer Philip Moore releasing some incredible harmonies from deep down inside. This should definitely grab your ears and get you stoked for the album’s release.
