| Beechwood |
Inside the Flesh Hotel |
Beechwood — Inside the Flesh Hotel (June 8, 2018)
♠ “We were both lost. When we started playing music together, it was the first thing that really made sense.” (Lawrence)
Location: New York, NY
Album release: June 8, 2018
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Garage Rock Revival, Noise~Rock
Record Label: Alive Naturalsound
Duration: 35:58
Tracks:
01 Flesh Hotel 3:00
02 Boy Before 3:05
03 Amy 2:49
04 Bigot in My Bedroom 2:32
05 Over on Everyone 3:55
06 The Ram 3:25
07 Nero 3:21
08 I Found You Out 2:34
09 Up and Down 3:20
10 Sucker 2:08
11 I Don’t Blame You Anymore 3:00
12 Our Love Was Worth the Heartbreak 2:49
℗ 2018 Alive Naturalsound
Written by:
♠ Gordon Lawrence 1, 2, 5, 11, 12
♠ Isa Tineo 3, 9
♠ Sid Simons 4, 10
♠ Gordon Lawrence / Sid Simons 6
♠ Gordon Lawrence / Isa Tineo 8
Credits:
♠ Nika De Carlo Artwork, Design
♠ Gordon Lawrence Composer, Group Member
♠ Matthew Marquardt Mixing, Producer
♠ Sid Simons Composer, Group Member
♠ Isa Tineo Composer, Group Member
AllMusic Review by Mark Deming; Score: ***½
≡> When a band releases their third album five months after their second, you’re probably foolish if you’re expecting a significant amount of audible growth. But what do you know? Beechwood sound like a stronger and more energetic band on Inside the Flesh Hotel, which arrived in June 2018, hot on the heels of Songs from the Land of Nod, released in January of the same year. Songs from the Land of Nod was fittingly titled, as the performances had a certain sleepy quality even when the band was rocking hard, but while vocalist Gordon Lawrence hasn’t abandoned the whispery mumble that dominated the previous LP, this band sounds tighter, more committed, and more forceful their third time at bat. Inside the Flesh Hotel has just enough sloppiness to suit this band’s garage~psych persona, but the pop~leaning growl of “Boy Before,” the clean~lined and wistful “Amy,” the brazen but effective Stooges cop of “Nero,” and the fuzzy peal of the guitars in “Over on Everyone” give the impression Beechwood put more care into their music this time out. Lawrence’s guitar work is more precise without seeming mannered, and bassist Sid Simons and drummer Isa Tineo keep the songs in line and moving forward with style and just the right amount of muscle. And while these guys generally seem to be too busy exploring inner space to fret much about politics, “Bigot in My Bedroom” is a witty but pointed attack on an unnamed leader who is making Lawrence and his bandmates want to flee the country. ≡> Inside the Flesh Hotel isn’t a quantum leap into greatness for Beechwood, but on every level it genuinely improves on Songs from the Land of Nod and makes a better case for their talents. Imagine how much better they might sound if they wait eight months to release album number four! ≡> https://www.allmusic.com/
Label: http://www.alive-records.com/
Bandcamp: https://beechwoodbeechwood.bandcamp.com/
Also:
Interview
By Allyson Shiffman, 2016
¦→ If punk is dead, Gordon Lawrence and ISA, the fellas behind the band Beechwood must be zombies, or, perhaps more accurately, vampires. “We’re pretty nocturnal,” Lawrence admits between sips of his rum and coke. We’re sitting in a candle~lit corner of quintessential East Village rock n’ roll burger joint BLK MKT. The punk bands of that romanticized bygone age blare over the speakers.
¦→ That isn’t to say that Beechwood, which features Lawrence on guitar and ISA on drums, accompanied by a bassist, sounds like, or even looks like, Television or the Ramones or The Dead Boys or any combination thereof (they don’t not sound or look like certain bands of that ilk either, not that there’s anything wrong with that). Pardon the cliché, but it’s more about their attitude and, by extension of that attitude, their lifestyle. These guys aren’t playing their raucous, unpredictable shows in dingy New York basements and going back to sleep in $2000/month East Village apartments. They don’t even have apartments.
¦→ Instead, their music is born of necessity, and I’m not talking about whatever meager money they accrue playing gigs. If these guys weren’t playing music, they would probably be actually dead (or, at the very least, in an unimaginably shitty place) and not just hilariously undead for the purpose of a witty intro (I can also confirm that they aren’t vampires — I’ve seen them skating in Tompkins by the light of day).
¦→ This isn’t my assumption as some douchebag music journalist (I’m not a music journalist, but I’m probably a douchebag). Lawrence and ISA (more often Lawrence; he’s the talker of the two) say that their band is their life, in one way or another, constantly, genuinely and without apology. And, to quote Minutemen, maybe their band could be your life, too… Or maybe not. Beechwood could hardly be categorized as punk if they were pleasing all parties. But if raucous, unpredictable shows in New York basements are your thing, you owe it to yourself to come to The Bowery Electric tonight and find out. As Lawrence says, “Whether people like us or not, they don’t forget us.” (more at http://bullettmedia.com/article/meet-beechwood-new-york-band-life/)
About Beechwood
≡> Generating a sound and feel at once stoned, cocky, and aggressive, Beechwood are a band that literally came from the New York streets. To take the members at their word, they were effectively homeless when they dropped their first nationally distributed album, and they all flirted with lives outside the law while struggling to get the band off the ground.
≡> Beechwood were formed by guitarist and vocalist Gordon Lawrence and drummer and vocalist Isa Tineo. The two first met when they were 16 years old, bonding over their shared love of skateboarding. Lawrence got his first guitar when he was 11, and after learning a few chords found he could play along with Ramones records. As for Tineo, his father was a drummer, so he grew up around percussion gear, and discovered as a teen that playing drums was a good way to deal with aggression. Lawrence and Tineo decided to pool their ideas about rock & roll, and with the addition of bassist Sid Simons, they had a band, and they adopted the name Beechwood from the street were Lawrence lived as a kid.
≡> Beechwood made their debut playing a St. Patrick’s Day show opening for Murphy’s Law, and while they didn’t have much in common with the headliners, they went over well, and they were on their way. In 2014, Beechwood released an independent album, Trash Glamour, and their live work helped them earn a reputation as one of the best and edgiest groups in New York City. In 2017, Beechwood struck a deal with the long~running indie label Alive Naturalsound, and in January 2018 they brought out the group’s second album, Songs from the Land of Nod. ~ Mark Deming
Product description:
♠ HAND MIXED STARBURST VINYL LTD to 200 copies!
♠ Gorgeous double sided insert with lyrics and photos!
♠ With the recently released “Songs From the Land of Nod” garnering enthusiastic reviews across the board, BEECHWOOD delivers the follow up, “Inside The Flesh Hotel”. From two~minute pop perfection, to the sound of drug~induced nightmare psychoses, the trio’s music hits you where it hurts.
♠ Gordon Lawrence (guitar/vox), Isa Tineo (drums/vox) and Sid Simons (bass/vox) are drawing their rock n’roll line in the dirt, which side are you on?
PRAISE FOR “SONGS FROM THE LAND OF NOD”:
♠ Oozing with edgy cut~throat energy and cool, sleazy grace. — IT STARTS WITH A BRIMSTONE
♠ Authentic rock ‘n’ roll! — POWER OF POP
♠ Brings the late ’60s into the ’00s. — GRUNGECAKE
♠ A darkly shimmering rock ’n’ roll record of bruising timelessness. — THE VILLAGE VOICE
♠ Recalls the best moments of the Zombies and Beach Boys. — POPMATTERS
♠ Run a pretty wide gamut of scuzz from garage to glam to punk to indie that’s not that easy to date. — STEREOGUM
♠ A mash up of a bunch of different rock that collectively just scream cool. — POP DUST
♠ Piece together the best of rock throughout the ages. — BUFFALO BLOG
♠ Exquisite music taste and ideas make them seem from another era. — PLEASE KILL ME
♠ Vintage garage rock vibe reminiscent of a Nuggets~era group blasted to the present. — THE BIG TAKEOVER
♠ Their sound is a classic, hot and sweaty, raw and nasty, rock and roll spirit, that commands the room with a real classic NYC sound. — PANCAKES & WHISKEY (live review)
_____________________________________________________________
| Beechwood |
Inside the Flesh Hotel |
Location: New York, NY
Album release: June 8, 2018
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Garage Rock Revival, Noise~Rock
Record Label: Alive Naturalsound
Duration: 35:58
Tracks:
01 Flesh Hotel 3:00
02 Boy Before 3:05
03 Amy 2:49
04 Bigot in My Bedroom 2:32
05 Over on Everyone 3:55
06 The Ram 3:25
07 Nero 3:21
08 I Found You Out 2:34
09 Up and Down 3:20
10 Sucker 2:08
11 I Don’t Blame You Anymore 3:00
12 Our Love Was Worth the Heartbreak 2:49
℗ 2018 Alive Naturalsound
Written by:
♠ Gordon Lawrence 1, 2, 5, 11, 12
♠ Isa Tineo 3, 9
♠ Sid Simons 4, 10
♠ Gordon Lawrence / Sid Simons 6
♠ Gordon Lawrence / Isa Tineo 8
Credits:
♠ Nika De Carlo Artwork, Design
♠ Gordon Lawrence Composer, Group Member
♠ Matthew Marquardt Mixing, Producer
♠ Sid Simons Composer, Group Member
♠ Isa Tineo Composer, Group Member
AllMusic Review by Mark Deming; Score: ***½
≡> When a band releases their third album five months after their second, you’re probably foolish if you’re expecting a significant amount of audible growth. But what do you know? Beechwood sound like a stronger and more energetic band on Inside the Flesh Hotel, which arrived in June 2018, hot on the heels of Songs from the Land of Nod, released in January of the same year. Songs from the Land of Nod was fittingly titled, as the performances had a certain sleepy quality even when the band was rocking hard, but while vocalist Gordon Lawrence hasn’t abandoned the whispery mumble that dominated the previous LP, this band sounds tighter, more committed, and more forceful their third time at bat. Inside the Flesh Hotel has just enough sloppiness to suit this band’s garage~psych persona, but the pop~leaning growl of “Boy Before,” the clean~lined and wistful “Amy,” the brazen but effective Stooges cop of “Nero,” and the fuzzy peal of the guitars in “Over on Everyone” give the impression Beechwood put more care into their music this time out. Lawrence’s guitar work is more precise without seeming mannered, and bassist Sid Simons and drummer Isa Tineo keep the songs in line and moving forward with style and just the right amount of muscle. And while these guys generally seem to be too busy exploring inner space to fret much about politics, “Bigot in My Bedroom” is a witty but pointed attack on an unnamed leader who is making Lawrence and his bandmates want to flee the country. ≡> Inside the Flesh Hotel isn’t a quantum leap into greatness for Beechwood, but on every level it genuinely improves on Songs from the Land of Nod and makes a better case for their talents. Imagine how much better they might sound if they wait eight months to release album number four! ≡> https://www.allmusic.com/
Label: http://www.alive-records.com/
Bandcamp: https://beechwoodbeechwood.bandcamp.com/
Also:
Interview
By Allyson Shiffman, 2016
¦→ If punk is dead, Gordon Lawrence and ISA, the fellas behind the band Beechwood must be zombies, or, perhaps more accurately, vampires. “We’re pretty nocturnal,” Lawrence admits between sips of his rum and coke. We’re sitting in a candle~lit corner of quintessential East Village rock n’ roll burger joint BLK MKT. The punk bands of that romanticized bygone age blare over the speakers.
¦→ That isn’t to say that Beechwood, which features Lawrence on guitar and ISA on drums, accompanied by a bassist, sounds like, or even looks like, Television or the Ramones or The Dead Boys or any combination thereof (they don’t not sound or look like certain bands of that ilk either, not that there’s anything wrong with that). Pardon the cliché, but it’s more about their attitude and, by extension of that attitude, their lifestyle. These guys aren’t playing their raucous, unpredictable shows in dingy New York basements and going back to sleep in $2000/month East Village apartments. They don’t even have apartments.
¦→ Instead, their music is born of necessity, and I’m not talking about whatever meager money they accrue playing gigs. If these guys weren’t playing music, they would probably be actually dead (or, at the very least, in an unimaginably shitty place) and not just hilariously undead for the purpose of a witty intro (I can also confirm that they aren’t vampires — I’ve seen them skating in Tompkins by the light of day).
¦→ This isn’t my assumption as some douchebag music journalist (I’m not a music journalist, but I’m probably a douchebag). Lawrence and ISA (more often Lawrence; he’s the talker of the two) say that their band is their life, in one way or another, constantly, genuinely and without apology. And, to quote Minutemen, maybe their band could be your life, too… Or maybe not. Beechwood could hardly be categorized as punk if they were pleasing all parties. But if raucous, unpredictable shows in New York basements are your thing, you owe it to yourself to come to The Bowery Electric tonight and find out. As Lawrence says, “Whether people like us or not, they don’t forget us.” (more at http://bullettmedia.com/article/meet-beechwood-new-york-band-life/)
About Beechwood
≡> Generating a sound and feel at once stoned, cocky, and aggressive, Beechwood are a band that literally came from the New York streets. To take the members at their word, they were effectively homeless when they dropped their first nationally distributed album, and they all flirted with lives outside the law while struggling to get the band off the ground.
≡> Beechwood were formed by guitarist and vocalist Gordon Lawrence and drummer and vocalist Isa Tineo. The two first met when they were 16 years old, bonding over their shared love of skateboarding. Lawrence got his first guitar when he was 11, and after learning a few chords found he could play along with Ramones records. As for Tineo, his father was a drummer, so he grew up around percussion gear, and discovered as a teen that playing drums was a good way to deal with aggression. Lawrence and Tineo decided to pool their ideas about rock & roll, and with the addition of bassist Sid Simons, they had a band, and they adopted the name Beechwood from the street were Lawrence lived as a kid.
≡> Beechwood made their debut playing a St. Patrick’s Day show opening for Murphy’s Law, and while they didn’t have much in common with the headliners, they went over well, and they were on their way. In 2014, Beechwood released an independent album, Trash Glamour, and their live work helped them earn a reputation as one of the best and edgiest groups in New York City. In 2017, Beechwood struck a deal with the long~running indie label Alive Naturalsound, and in January 2018 they brought out the group’s second album, Songs from the Land of Nod. ~ Mark Deming
Product description:
♠ HAND MIXED STARBURST VINYL LTD to 200 copies!
♠ Gorgeous double sided insert with lyrics and photos!
♠ With the recently released “Songs From the Land of Nod” garnering enthusiastic reviews across the board, BEECHWOOD delivers the follow up, “Inside The Flesh Hotel”. From two~minute pop perfection, to the sound of drug~induced nightmare psychoses, the trio’s music hits you where it hurts.
♠ Gordon Lawrence (guitar/vox), Isa Tineo (drums/vox) and Sid Simons (bass/vox) are drawing their rock n’roll line in the dirt, which side are you on?
PRAISE FOR “SONGS FROM THE LAND OF NOD”:
♠ Oozing with edgy cut~throat energy and cool, sleazy grace. — IT STARTS WITH A BRIMSTONE
♠ Authentic rock ‘n’ roll! — POWER OF POP
♠ Brings the late ’60s into the ’00s. — GRUNGECAKE
♠ A darkly shimmering rock ’n’ roll record of bruising timelessness. — THE VILLAGE VOICE
♠ Recalls the best moments of the Zombies and Beach Boys. — POPMATTERS
♠ Run a pretty wide gamut of scuzz from garage to glam to punk to indie that’s not that easy to date. — STEREOGUM
♠ A mash up of a bunch of different rock that collectively just scream cool. — POP DUST
♠ Piece together the best of rock throughout the ages. — BUFFALO BLOG
♠ Exquisite music taste and ideas make them seem from another era. — PLEASE KILL ME
♠ Vintage garage rock vibe reminiscent of a Nuggets~era group blasted to the present. — THE BIG TAKEOVER
♠ Their sound is a classic, hot and sweaty, raw and nasty, rock and roll spirit, that commands the room with a real classic NYC sound. — PANCAKES & WHISKEY (live review)
_____________________________________________________________