The Beta Band: The Three EPs : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Part Scottish, part English and totally twisted, the Beta Band is making someof the most invigorating new music in Britain. Except that nothing on TheThree E.P.'s, a roundup of the group's initial minialbum releases, reallyseems to go pop! -- at first. With melting-brass licks, Stephen Mason'sspindly slide guitar and his sleepy Gregorian-blues moan, the opening number,"Dry the Rain," moves like the Rolling Stones' "No Expectations" at sixteenrpm. Imagine Pavement without the amps, the Verve drunk and unplugged, Beckminus the white-soul-dada routine, and you have the bruised folk-with-funk mixof cheapo electronics, scrap-yard percussion and fireside-raga vocals in "IKnow" and "Inner Meet Me."

But Mason, bassist Richard Greentree, drummer Robin Jones and DJ John McLeanare up to a subtle, eclectic mischief that really goes back to the Beatles'White Album via the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique and theradical sound games of the German band Faust. "B+A" is a blast of mad-hatterdynamics: McLean's rusted-drum-machine samples, modal chanting, a huge groovedriven by pie-plate-cymbal crashes. The first half of the eight-minute "She'sthe One" is a bleary torch song with whooping synth, boxy percussion and aMinnie Mouse-vocal chorus. Then Mason's chiming, George Harrison-like guitarpops out of the murk and the simple, repeated chorus ("She's the one for me")becomes a "Hey Jude"-style blowout.

The Betas need some lessons in brevity; "The House Song" and "Monolith" areoverlong dub yawns. Yet there is something cleansing-a purity of spirit anda tripped-out glee-about the lava-flow tempo and insidiously catchy clutterof The Three E.P.'s. The Beta Band takes its sweet, loopy time blowingyour mind, but it does the job right. (RS 805)

DAVID FRICKE