The Beths albums

2022

Expert in a Dying Field - 82%

Old fashioned rock n roll is very rare in this day and age, and with this album The Beths fill a void by simply playing music that is basic rock n roll – 2 guitars, bass, drums. I’m very glad it exists and it’s a breath of fresh air whether is power pop (“Best Left”, “Expert in a Dying Field” whose chorus will stay in your head for days ), melodic Tom Petty style mid tempo songs (“Knees Deep” which is sublime in its catchiness, “A Passing Train” which works almost as well), more punky and super friendly tunes (“Silence is Golden”, “I Told You I was Afraid” towards the end of the record serves as the sort of summation).     

       There also plenty of some good ballads that walk the line between mainstream pop and have a more Beatles influence (“Your Side”, accurately named closer “2AM”). The band also has some brilliant lead guitar tracks, where the riffs seem to jump out of nowhere to shock you, dual guitar work by Jonathan Pierce and lead singer Elizabeth Stokes . It’s possible they could have left off a track or two and had a stronger record (“I Want to Listen”, “Change in the Weather”), or perhaps increased the length of some of these tunes and jammed them out (“Your Side” comes to mind). The albums best song, the multi layered  “When You Know You Know” gets the best mix of pathos and melodic genius. With this album, The Beth’s bring joyful, hopeful music back to the forefront of 2022, and I can’t wait to hear more in the future.

Best Songs: When You Know You Know, Expert In a Dying Field, Silence is Golden, I Told you I was afraid