The Coast Is Never Clear
These guys just know what pop music is all
about. It's a cooled out trip in the California sunshine, complete
with horns, harmonies and even some driving guitar. "Silver
Lining" is a a wonderful ode to bitterness and even includes
the ironic handclaps and a tip of the hat to the Dead Milkmen
with the line that despite their problems "she'll always
be my punk rock girl." Beulah manages to recall the sixties
while sounding completely modern and relevant. This is their
"mellow" album, before everything in their lives goes to shit
on Yoko. |
Handsome Western States
I had a bootleg copy of this wonderful album
for a long time before finally getting a real copy from the
merch table at a Beulah show. Considering it's out of print,
I believe this, along with sending a check to the lead singer,
Miles Kurosky, in Oakland, may be the only way to get a legit
copy. Well, it is certainly worth the effort. While a little
less polished, more straight forward and a tad more derivative
than their later stuff, this album has some amazingly memorable
indie pop that manages to combine their semi-psychedelic, 60's
leaning sound with the indie rock stylings of a Pavement.
To this day "Disco: The Secretaries Blues" is one
of my favorite songs. Somehow, through its lyrics and melody
the album conveys the attitude and cynical hopefulness of The
Golden State in a rockin' half-hour of pop bliss. |
When Your Heartstrings Break
They were Pavement.
Now they're Beulah. Starting with track one, "Score from Augusta,"
you know you're in for a piece of pop perfection. This is a
band that has spent time between albums honing their sound,
creating a wonderful amalgamation of sixties sun and 90's indie
rock. I really can't imagine anyone out there not loving this
album. It might be the perfect pop masterpiece. Okay, I'm stretching
there, but this record is filled with swinging beats, horns
and strings galore, great hooks, clever lyrics, great singing
and terrific production. What else can a guy ask for? Some of
the wonderful fuzz from Handsome Western States is
evident at points, but only as chorus flourishes between the
clean verses. The mixture makes the transition that much more
satisfying and unique. Apparently this album was/is out of print
for a long time, as the band changed labels and things fell
apart. This album is a seminal piece of Elephant
6 and pop history, so don't let it get away. |
Yoko
Breakups are a bitch. Like Yoko Ono breaking
up the Beatles, apparently a bunch
of dudes in Beulah had their women break them apart. And then
comes the angry album. The nice thing about Beulah is that they
can survive it all with a smile on their face, even if their
words are venomous. "You're scared and you're weak and you don't
give a fuck about me! And I do believe that you hate yourself!"
Just an example of the bitterness being thrown around on this
album--but it's all done with the amazing yesteryear aplomb
of the sunny, Elephant
6 sound. I had the extreme pleasure of catching these guys
on the Yoko tour, and despite being pretty damn drunk,
they put on an energetic, rockin' show that featured many tunes
from this album and kept me smiling like a moron the entire
time. This is what pop music should be. |
Musical Connections:
Miles Kurosky
|
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