The new album from New Zealand's The Beths is an extraordinary creature. It's the rarest sort of indie-rock long-player that isn't exactly front-loaded with the best numbers. In an odd fashion, the songs get better, brighter, and catchier as the record progresses. I am sure that Elizabeth Stokes, the pop wizard behind this material, did that intentional for some reason but I'm not sure why. However you approach Jump Rope Gazers, out tomorrow via Carpark Records, I'm sure you'll be charmed.
"I'm Not Getting Excited" and "Dying to Believe" open this one in a rocky fashion, the guitars louder somehow, even as "Out of Sight" tempers the roar with a nice lyricism. Stokes has a masterful knack at coming up with hooks, and her compositions invariably feel familiar and fresh at the same time. "Don't Go Away", for example, has real power-pop crunch, but it's also got a lovely hook and vulnerable set of vocals from Stokes at the center of the track. It is, along with the frenzied "Mars, God of War", one of the real highlights here on Jump Rope Gazers.
Each number here has elements that make a listener think of Blake Babies, Alex Lahey, Marshall Crenshaw, and any number of other artists, but, as I stressed, Elizabeth Stokes consistently makes this snap with a cleverness that's entirely endearing, and the kind of musical smarts that never disappoint. For every moment here on this new album that seems louder than before, or more mellow than before ("You Are a Beam of Light"), there are others, like closer "Just Shy of Sure", that bring the good stuff like no other current band can. The cut, like most of these here on Jump Rope Gazers, has a killer hook of the kind that makes it entirely impossible to dislodge from the brain. I applaud that.
Jump Rope Gazers is out tomorrow via Carpark Records.
More details on The Beths via the band's official website, or their official Facebook page.
[Photo: Maison Fairey]