The best comparison one can make to explain the Beta's new record is to the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique, the group's 1989 Dust Brothers-produced record, which came at a moment when the group was making a transition from rap parodists/piss-takers to overly pious defenders of hip-hop (a reversal that still seems a little ridiculous given their early antics). Essentially single-free, Paul's Boutique came at the nadir of the Beasties career and sold relatively poorly, but critics and obsessive fans have routinely and rightly pointed it out as the group's classic. Similarly single-free, the Beta's new album, like Paul's Boutique, seems completely at ease with the dissolution of the borders between beat-based and pop-rock music. Even more than the Beasties, though, The Beta Band seems to understand and fully embrace every variety of music from the second half of the 20th century -- electronic beats, avant sounds, hip-hop vibes, '60s rock dynamics, punk attitude, and pop sense.
At this point, the band is also clearly in control of its muse and judicious in the respect it pays to hip-hop. "You can't be someone you're not," acknowledges Greentree when asked why the band doesn't try playing actual hip-hop. "If we were all big black geezers hanging around in Chevrolets and driving around in L.A., then we would be. But we're not. We're skinny white geezers in London. But we are getting more and more beat-oriented." He says the beats are getting bigger and better. "For the live show," continues Greentree, "all the songs are a lot more up-tempo, with bigger beats and more concentration on the beats themselves."
Katrin Geilhausen
Sounds of science: The Beta Band throws everything at the wall, and occasionally, some of it sticks in your head.
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As historical and respectful as The Beta Band is, there's also a liberal dose of humor involved. Greentree denies the influence, but there's a giddy comic strain running through the Beta's work that strikes one as distinctly British, almost Monty Python-esque. Live, the group has been known to decorate the stage with houseplants, dress up in jungle gear and Indian headdresses, ignore the audience, and pass instruments around like members of a mysterious pop cult. The live shows also feature long-form videos as backdrops: the band members doing Jane Fonda-like workouts, static shots of flowers, Jones being carried away by a giant parrot.
Between the weird props and strange stage demeanor, it seems as though the band uses performance as just another way to confuse people. The group downplays its obvious pop abilities while emphasizing its greatest strength: the power to surprise. And The Beta Band's desire to baffle is a welcome one in an arena in which most people know all too well what's being tossed at them. As Mason sings at the end of The Beta Band: "I've fucked it up / I've fucked it up / I've fucked it up." Yes, with style.
