Video: The Beths – “Your Side”

Directed by Tristan Deck. From Expert In A Dying Field, out now on Carpark.

Does anybody write better melodies than Elizabeth Stokes? I can’t think of anybody.

It’s a bit of a cliche but I like it when a band has had an album out for a while and the label has already spent all the money they’re going to spend on videos so the band throws together a bunch of the stuff they shot on tour on their phone. It’s a fun look behind the scenes of a touring band. See them driving in the van, buying garbage food at gas stations, snoring in the van, checking their lattops in green rooms, playing what must be cricket, laughing in the van, and rocking out on stage.

But here I go again
Mixing drinks and messages.
So I’ll say it plain, baby
I want to see you.

“Your Side” is a song of aching loneliness but you might not catch that on first listen because it sounds almost giddy. I guess that would reflect hopefulness.

Continue reading New Beths: Your Side →

Video: The Beths – “A Real Thing”

Directed by Sports Team. Single out now on Carpark Records.

Woo hoo, the Beths are back with another batch of New Zealand power pop with all the hooks and harmonies we’ve come to expect.

Liz Stokes says the song is “a kind of anxiety dream. It’s a bit muddled, a bit frantic, a bit sinister. It’s what came out of my guitar in late 2020, post NZ election (and US election). I was limply reaching for optimism about the future, but was really just marinating in dread.”

I think we’ve got our new motto: Limply reaching for optimism, marinating in dread.

Video: The Beths – “Jump Rope Gazers”

Directed by Annabel Kean. From Jump Rope Gazers, out now via Carpark.

Not as immediately catchy as the singles from 2018’a Future Me Hates Me, the latest from the New Zealand’s finest takes a while to sink in. The hooks are more subtle, but they’re in there.

I’ve never been the dramatic type
But if I don’t see your face tonight
I… well I guess I’ll be fine

I’m still regretting not going to see the Beths when they played a tiny venue in my town last year. Can’t remember what my lame excuse was for not going, but I can guarantee it was stupid. It sure would be fun to see a show at a club, wouldn’t it?

Don’t you wish you lived in New Zealand right now, where they have effectively beat this fucking coronavirus? I do. Apparently, I’m not alone: 80,000 Americans expressed interest in relocating in May. I guess “I’m moving to New Zealand” is the new “I’m moving to Canada.”

At least maybe then we would get to hang out with the Beths.

The Beths: bandcamp, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Video: The Beths – “Uptown Girl”

From Future Me Hates Me, out now on Carpark.

This is not a cover of the 1983 Billy Joel classic off An Innocent Man, but that’s okay. The Beths have released almost as many singles from their album Future Me Hates Me as old BJ released from his. And while the Beths haven’t managed to dent the mainstream pop charts yet, it would be hard to argue that it’s any fault of their songcraft.

I will go out tonight
I’m gonna drink the whole town dry
Put poison in my wine
And hope that you’re the one who dies

Elizabeth Stokes told Under the Radar that “Uptown Girl” is “basically about self-destructive behavior, when you’re angry at someone or you feel like somebody’s wronged you and your mode of revenge is to fuck yourself up. It’s very flawed logic but it seems to make sense at the time. It’s kinda that, it’s what that song is about. At the time all of my friend’s were going through weird shit so it was also building on their experiences as well.”

If there was justice in the world, Stokes would already be getting tired of her high class toys and all her presents from her uptown boys.

The Beths: bandcamp, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

Video: The Beths – “Little Death”

Directed by Norwood Cheek. From Future Me Hates Me, out now on Carpark Records.

It’s a love song but it’s better than that. It’s a crush story.

And your voice it makes me weak
I’m wasted when you speak
You hit me hard as red wine

That’s intense!

The Beths: bandcamp, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.