THE BEETS
Spit in the Face of People Who Don’t Want You to Be Cool
My, my. What a fantastic album. Yeah, flipping through CDs you might think it looks absolutely retarded, with its long-ass title and pencil-crayoned wrestling figures of decades past. What could it be? Field recordings of a special-ed music class pressed up for door-to-door fundraising? As cool as that would’ve been, you get something even cooler if you pick this album up. The Beets play pop music. Kinda like the Beatles. Yeah, those Beatles. The songs are catchy as hell and they all sing together. Yeah, they might sound a little drunk, but at least they’re in tune. From the start, the combination of the gang vocals and the simple, repeated melodies catch on and you’ll. And holy reverb—the Beets sound like they were recorded at the bottom of a giant plastic bucket. The Beets are like a mulch of Sic Alps/Galaxie 500/Beach Boys (yum!), some of the better stuff that’s coming out of this nouveau lo-fi movement. (Captured Tracks, www.capturedtracks.com) Patrick Michalishyn
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989