Photo: Frances Carter
New Zealand’s The Beths have supplied so many earworms on their first three records, it’s like they’re running a Down Under bait shop. Modern Kiwi rock ’n’ roll does not find tunefulness an alien concept, and while I’m not an expert on music from the land of the tuatara, I can also say I haven’t heard rock this muscular since the heyday of the 3Ds, and vocals so winning, heartfelt, humorous yet ironic down under since Aussie Courtney Barnett made her stateside impact.
Even though theirs is a muscular rock (and not as laconic as Barnett), the music of The Beths is so overflowing with sinuous winsomeness and such self-deprecating lyrics, that they threaten to swamp their vessel in the Cook Strait. Their songs are kept afloat by rocking tempos and loudness that propels the clever writing and words sung in crystal-clear fashion, so that nothing is lost on the listener.
The quartet have toured with Pixies, Death Cab for Cutie and The Breeders, and logged appearances at major international festivals including Primavera Sound, The Great Escape, End of the Road, SXSW and Pickathon. They’ve also headlined tours across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. This month they play two shows at Thalia Hall, February 24 and 25, with fellow Kiwi and label mate Hans Pucket opening.
Even though they originated thousands of miles from Chicago, it’s still easy to hear local reflections in the surf pop of Beach Bunny and the darkly personal yet humorous stories told by local favorites Ratboys. Local antecedents that spring to mind while spinning The Beths also include the Elizabeth Elmore complex of Sarge and The Reputation, as well as The Dishes, The Dials and Telenovela. Their confessional approach and hard-hitting anthemic ballads and rockers even come with echoes of Veruca Salt, minus the AC/DC obsession, perhaps.
There are also echoes of the late, lamented twee Aussies Allo Darlin’, but you don’t need to know about any of those bands to enjoy the lovely compositions of The Beths. Led by their name inspiration Elizabeth Stokes (vocals, rhythm guitar), they were formed in 2014 when she and high school friend Jonathan Pearce (lead guitar, vocals) met Benjamin Sinclair (bass, vocals, blogger on their tour and breakfasts) and their former drummer whilst studying jazz at university in Auckland. According to their bio, forming a rock quartet was a reaction against their jazz training. Even though Tristan Deck (drums, backing vocals, percussion) started touring with the band in 2018 and joined up full-time in 2019, he drops tight but never showy beats, and the whole quartet functions like a well-oiled machine, stopping on a dime when needed, and always keeping the focus on Stokes’ gorgeous lead soprano.
Their latest, “Expert In a Dying Field,” released domestically via Carpark, begins with the title cut and these telling lines:
Can we erase our history?
Is it as easy as this?
Plausible deniability,
I swear I’ve never heard of it.
And I can close the door on us
But the room still exists,
And I know you’re in it.
The song concludes that “Love is learned over time / ‘Til you’re an expert in a dying field.” As a music writer and an armchair herpetologist, I believe I know what it’s like to be an expert in a dying field, but when that field is love, that’s a terrifying (yet insightful) concept.
The Beths specialize in irony to the extent that one of the more rocking cuts argues that the “Silence Is Golden”: I’d burn the city to the ground to turn it down,” Stokes cries, and the track almost goes adrift into silly guitar solos before ending with a lovely a cappella conclusion.
“You can scream at the void, but it never replies,” Stokes sings on “Head in the Clouds,” as if she’s a reporter documenting “the scene of the crime”—and wonders “how can you hold me, when I’m dissolving” in a more contemplative moment in the rocking “A Passing Rain.”
“Here I go again, mixing drinks and messages,” she sings on the lovely and richly textured “Your Side,” which climaxes with Beatles guitar references and beautiful vocal harmonies. In a perfect world, this song would nudge Taylor Swift from the top of the U.S. singles chart. But as Stokes’ lyrics make clear, the world is imperfect, and while their first full-length peaked at number nineteen, their sophomore album reached number two, with the newest record hitting number one, if only in New Zealand. In the United States, they should be so lucky as to sell numbers like Soccer Mommy or draw fans in numbers similar to Best Coast. But folks don’t form bands this good to become rich and famous, they do it for the fun of it and because they have something to say. Stokes has described Auckland’s all-ages scene as being “dangerously supportive,” but if it incubates and inspires talents like The Beths, I don’t see a downside.
“Your Side,” being the earwormiest of the earworms bred here, follows up those introductory lines by sewing her heart on her sleeve, to wonderful effect:
So I’ll say it plain
I just
I want to see you
I want to hear you say
Don’t cry
I’m on the next flight
To be by your side
To be by your side
Don’t cry
I’m driving all night
To be by your side
To be by your side
“I rest my case in the bed I made,” she begins on the bouncy “I Want To Listen,” and “When You Know You Know” begins with a shambolic tempo and some Rolling Stones “ooh oohs” before reaching a blazing guitar solo-accented climax. When a band can get past my annoyance at the phrase “you know,” then you know you have a talented ensemble, indeed.
You can hear that jazzy influence on the sprawling, concluding cut, “Zam,” which at almost five minutes is by far the longest composition on the record. It’s sort of like Camera Obscura meets Art Blakey or something. Stokes’ scat-like vocal delivery (at times) may stem from her jazz training. But I digress, and I feel like The Beths sort of do as well; it’s hard to sustain the energy and genius of the first four tracks, yet there’s not a duff cut here. There’s no song where you’d say, oh well, this would be a B-side or this is an album track, as opposed to a clear-cut single.
Their press from Carpark says these twelve songs “explore the same noisy, cerebral indie-rock-meets-power pop of earlier records, but imbued with an electric shock of new confidence: a record meant to be experienced live,” and I can’t argue with that.
I wish I’d made a top ten list for 2022 so I could have put this album at the top.
The Beths at Thalia Hall, 1807 South Allport, February 24 and 25. Advance tickets are sold out, but there will be some tickets at the door.
