THE BEEPS
Music For Awkward Situations (Ilegalia)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

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The slow beats, dreamy musical pastiches and the gentle, alluring voice of Sue K should win over even the most jaded pop consumer, and the true connoisseurs'll go nuts over some of the most addictive songs currently available on the street. It's not pure downbeat, mind you. It's been cut with some high energy tunes like "The Jesus Song" and "Surf's Up" that are so swirly, trippy and happily disorienting that you not only don't mind looking up from your shoes, you appreciate the chance to dance. With guitars, drums, bass, various horns and keyboards (including Hammond organ), they make a fine sound on their own, but the production adds just the right touches to bring out their strengths without clouding things up. It would appear they did that themselves, usually employing the "less is more" philosophy with rewarding results.

There's a lovely retro feel to certain moments of their music, though not necessarily entire songs. In a tune that seems perfectly contemporary, a sudden wide gap will open in the soundscape and a lonely guitar will slowly bend a few notes in a Doors-like fashion, then just as quickly the time hole closes again, which is a pretty fascinating thing to hear. Lyric hounds will have fun, as well, since several songs have unusual subject matter. In fact, "We'll Keep The Peace" should have the NRA up in arms, so to speak, since it calls them out by name and is less than flattering. A song in high rotation at Chez Debriz.

This one actually came out in 2003 and has been hiding in a dark corner of the Cosmik Tower ever since. Had it been reviewed on time, I think it probably would have made my Top Five list for last year, or at very least had an enthusiastic honorable mention. At the moment, I can't get enough of it.

© 2004 - DJ Johnson