FEATURE:
Spotlight
The Beths
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THE brilliant Auckland-formed band…
PHOTO CREDIT: Mason Fairey
The Beths are one that I think everyone should be aware of. Consisting Elizabeth Stokes, Jonathan Pearce, Benjamin Sinclair, and Tristan Deck, Stokes and Pearce met Ivan Luketina-Johnston (who departed the band in 2018) at high-school where all four – including Jonathan Pearce - attended classes at the University of Auckland. The Beths started out in 2015, and, by March 2016, they had put out their debut E.P., Warm Blood. It was a promising start for the band, and I want to push forward to the present day in terms of releases, as the brilliant album, Jump Rope Gazers, arrived in July. It is the second album from the band, and it follows the excellent Future Me Hates Me of 2018. I think Jump Rope Gazers is a step up from their debut, and it is one of 2020’s best releases. I want to bring in a review for that album soon but, before then, I wanted to quote from a couple of interviews the band have conducted – go and buy Jump Rope Gazers if you can. Actually, I just want to grab from Rough Trade, who described the album thus:
“Songwriter and lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes worked on what would become The Beths’ second LP, Jump Rope Gazers, in between these intense periods of touring. Like the group’s earlier music, the album tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Stokes’s writing on Jump Rope Gazers grapples with the uneasy proposition of leaving everything and everyone you know behind on another continent, chasing your dreams while struggling to stay close with loved ones back home.
With songs like the rambunctious Dying To Believe and the tender, shoegazey Out of Sight, The Beths reckon with the distance that life necessarily drives between people over time. People who love each other inevitably fail each other. “I’m sorry for the way that I can’t hold conversations / They’re such a fragile thing to try to support the weight of,” Stokes sings on Dying to Believe. The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel. On Out of Sight, she pledges devotion to a dearly missed friend: “If your world collapses / I’ll be down in the rubble/I’d build you another,” she sings.
“It was a rough year in general, and I found myself saying the words, 'wish you were here, wish I was there,’ over and over again,” she says of the time period in which the album was written. Touring far from home, The Beths committed themselves to taking care of each other as they were trying at the same time to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. They encouraged each other to communicate whenever things got hard, and to pay forward acts of kindness whenever they could. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it - a sentiment we need now more than ever”.
Okay. I have talked about the new album a bit, but I think it is important to hear from the band a little. I will quote from a couple of interviews, because this year has been a busy one for them, and there are a lot of new eyes and ears tuning their way. I think The Beths have come a long way, and I am glad that a lot of fresh fans have come their way. I am not sure what the rest of this year holds for them, but I know they will be keen to get on the road they can and bring their music to the people. The Beths spoke with The Guardian recently, and we learn a bit about the switch from the debut, Future Me Hates Me, and their new release:
“The Beths’ first record, 2018’s Future Me Hates Me, introduced the world to a band that was all guitars and catchy melodies, with a self-effacing sentiment beneath the jangle. They went from playing national tours (which in New Zealand, Stokes says, amounts to three shows) to runs in Europe and North America, where 10 dates with no breaks became the norm. They opened for Pixies, the Breeders, Weezer and Death Cab for Cutie. Stokes was nominated for New Zealand songwriting award the Silver Scroll, twice.
But as their audience swelled, the small Auckland scene that had sheltered and supported them seemed farther and farther away.
Naturally, the disconnect made its way into Stokes’s lyrics. The Beths’ second record, Jump Rope Gazers, grapples with the pressure – both internal and external – of living up to the dream you sketched out for yourself; the shame that comes with falling for your own insecure bullshit again; and the frustration of feeling untethered to life back home.
“A lot of the album is about relationships and communication, and it just happens that communication means a different thing [now] than it did, like, 20 years ago,” Stokes says. The version of herself Stokes sketches out in her lyrics seems both grateful to have emails and texts to stay connected while she’s touring far from home, and resentful of the way those mediums can lead to miscommunication and tension. She adds a self-aware disclaimer to this thought: “I hope it’s not sounding like I’m like, ‘texting is bad for your relationships!’”
Seeing a band mature and evolve is always a great thing and, as discovered the band fairly recently, I have been listening back and comparing the music they were making a couple of years back and where they are now. One can tell and feel how good they are; everyone can connect with their music, and one is helpless to resist the energy and colour one finds on Jump Rope Gazers. It is a marvellous album, and the band are scaling new heights.
When the band spoke to Upset Magazine, Stokes and Pearce talked about how their latest album is a response to the reaction to their debut:
“It's a record they're rightly proud of too, pushing the sound of The Beths far beyond the breezy pop hooks found on 'Future Me Hates Me', and into something far more textured and nuanced. It's still unmistakably The Beths, but it possesses much more stylistic depth – peaks and valleys – which make it a much deeper listening experience.
Liz comments that the first record established the circle in which The Beths sit, and 'Jump Rope Gazers' is an opportunity to push on the boundaries of the circle, while Jonathan sees the decision to push themselves sonically as a response to how 'Future Me Hates Me' was perceived.
"I have a pretty unhealthy relationship with music criticism as a job," he says. "There are people out there who are personality music critics, and it makes me feel pretty uncomfortable. But we were aware of one piece of criticism of the first record that we thought was valid – and we're very proud of that record – but it didn't have a lot of diversity. There were a lot of fast and loud songs, crammed-in hooks, and cool guitar parts”.
I will wrap things up soon but, before I go on, I want to bring in a review of Jump Rope Gazers. The album has received some acclaim, but there are some who are a little mixed. I think Jump Rope Gazers is an album that grows and blossoms the more you listen, and, after a few spins, it really reveals its charms.
Those who were listening hard bonded with the album and saw it in its true light. In their assessment, this is what The Line of Best Fit wrote:
“Their recent tour with Death Cab For Cutie has clearly had some influence on them. The record features plenty of truly beautiful torch songs like "Out of Sight" the type that filled Death Cab’s Plans. “You Are A Beam Of Light” gives the stage over to Stokes’ vocals and an acoustic guitar, accompanied by some stunning harmonies. Here she tries to convince someone that their presence lights up her life, even if they don’t think the same. It’s a lump in the throat moment from a band that’ve only really gone all-out so far.
But they certainly haven’t forgotten how to write those big, excellent tunes filled with hooks and pithy observations. “I’m Not Getting Excited” is an assault of rollicking riffs and ripping drums, while “Don’t Go Away” features a fantastic slow head-banger of an outro. Not a single minute of Jump Rope Gazers is lacking in catchy melodies or that addictive energy.
Stokes has said that “I’m Not Getting Excited” is all about how she doesn’t want to jinx things. About the overriding impostor syndrome that seems to kick in when great moments or opportunities head her way. In truth, Stokes should knock those fears aside because The Beths have managed to create another overwhelmingly thrilling record. One in stunning communion with their debut but also distinctly its own creature”.
I have brought in a few interview and reviews because I wanted to give you an idea of who The Beths are and how they have progressed over the course of two albums. I would suggest people follow the band, as they are bound for big things, and I hope they do get to tour next year. Even though we are in lockdown, there is still fantastic music arriving, and with the likes of The Beths supplying treats like Jump Rope Gazers, it has got us through some tough times! A salute to them and, if they come to the U.K. next year, I will make sure…
I go and see them.
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Follow The Beths
