At one point The Beta Band seemed to have it all. After the success of the 3 EPs (mainly critical admittedly) they famously released their debut album and immediately slagged it off in public. Consequently no-one bought it, why would they? When they did get it together enough to release an album that nearly lived up to the early hopes, ‘Hot Shots II’, they had their thunder stolen by I Monster who used the same sample of ‘Daydream’ as lead single ‘Squares’. Two years on I Monster may well be languishing in one hit wonder land but the damage had been done.
The up side to all this means that The Beta Band now inhabit their own world and on ‘Heroes to Zeroes’ it has enabled them to spread their wings and create the album we all knew they were capable of. And what a strange world they inhabit. You may already be familiar with the bewitching single ‘Assessment’, all multi layered vocals and a triumphant climax of chiming guitars and glorious trumpets. Happily this is only one of a series of joyous moments. ‘Outside’ begins with dogs barking before letting rip with primal drums, great fuzzy synth breakdowns and trademark call and response vocals. ‘Liquid Bird’ opens with a guitar crunch that stops you in your tracks and has you reaching for the rewind button to check you really heard what you just heard. It then shoots off with hard digital drums and abrasive guitars.
This is a quintessentially British psychedelic album, reminiscent of the peculiarly British whimsical strain of psychedelia that can be traced back to ‘Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ by Pink Floyd. This debt is acknowledged in ‘Space Beatle’ (check the spelling) and such light as air songs as ‘Rhododendron’ all delicate, hollow drums and ancient synth sounds. Or on vocal led, magical soundscapes such as ‘Troubles’. Even the cover art of Manga style super heroes reverts back to type by the back cover which depicts four piles of clothes on a beach suggesting Reginald Perrin style antics of loss and re-invention.
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If ‘3EPs’ was the 3am record, this is their party album. Not in the ‘hands in the air’, ‘whacked off my tiny mind’ kind of a party but there’s a feeling of playfulness, of a band hitting their stride, knowing their strengths and playing to them. Sure there’s still the odd weakness, ‘Wonderful’ is a little too straight forward and drifts inconsequentially but you’re never far from a ‘Lion Thief’ full of curiosity and haunts of house music that bring to mind Primal Scream’s ‘Screamadelica’.
In a time when bands such as The Coral with their country and Doors fixations or The Bees and even the Zutons are held up as fried innovators the time is surely ripe for The Beta Band, genuine innovators without the grating quirkiness displayed by the others to come to the fore. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) they won’t play the game and will continue to plough their own lonely furrow. As they say on ‘Simple’; ‘Trouble with your own thing / is you end up on your own’. Well to these ears it’s the place to be.
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