The Beths — Jump Rope Gazers (July 10th, 2020) 
•• Všechno, co činilo debutové album Future Me Hates Me (10 Aug. 2018/Larry Fitzmaurice: score: 7.9) zvláštním, zůstává i na nádherném druhém albu The Beths. Jump Rope Gazers potvrzuje, že skupina má vřelost, dar pro vytváření písní zaměřených na srdce a sílu zůstat v hlavě. JON DOLAN z Rolling Stone označil band za fantastický. Menší skupina by nebyla tak efektivní a být originálním není to, co dělá kapelu tak roztomilou. Na tento sound jsou opravdovými odborníky a dynamika jejich hudby je natolik promyšlená, že jejich příběhy o posedlosti, žalu a úzkosti jsou nadčasové. Není to jen vhodné následování jejich klasického debutu- Je to také známka toho, že rychle se stávají nejlepším bandem v okolí. Po bezchybném debutu neměli Beths žádný problém. Svým prvním singlem „Dying To Believe“ okamžitě zabodovali. V něm kapela projevuje své vřelé, kompaktní aranžmá. Má stejnou hořko~sladkost jako Future Me Hates Me, protože melodie kontrastuje se smutkem v hlase Elizabeth Stokes. Je zde určitý postoj nejistoty — „Nesnažím se přerušit Vás — vysoké a mocné..., a pravděpodobně se nebudu učit lekce, v těchto dnech se snažím vydržet své vlastní reflexivní vzory“. Kontrolovaná kompozice osmé Mars, the God of War je úžasná, stejně jako její tlumená harmonie, kterou vnímám jako oslňující kolečko vítězství. Vyžaduje to dovednost, aby kombinace indie~ a power~pop soundu vyzněla tak svěže, přičemž The Beths skloubily to nejlepší z obou sub~žánrů. Písničkářství Elizabeth Stokes je plné bolestivých pravd, humoru, chytrých slovních hříček a schopnosti přitáhnout množství srdcí. Za mne vrcholy jsou: Dying to Believe, Jump Rope Gazers a zejména poslední Just Shy of Sure. Album má však zejména sílu jako celek: je kompaktní a náladotvorné. „Úspěchy zapisuj do kamene, selhání do písku.“
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Album release: July 10th, 2020
Record Label: Carpark Records/Rough Trade
Duration: 38:49
Tracks:
01. I’m Not Getting Excited 2:42
02. Dying to Believe 3:34
03. Jump Rope Gazers 5:12
04. Acrid 4:07
05. Do You Want Me Now 4:16
06. Out of Sight 3:40
07. Don’t Go Away 4:11
08. Mars, the God of War 2:53
09. You Are a Beam of Light 3:51
10. Just Shy of Sure 4:24
The Beths
• Guitar: Elizabeth Stokes, Jonathan Pearce
• Bass Guitar: Benjamin Sinclair
• Drums: Tristan Deck
• Vocals, Percussion: All
Credits:
• ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ was recorded in Jonathan Pearce’s studio in Auckland, NZ between November 2019 and February 2020
• All songs written by Elizabeth Stokes
• Arranged by The Beths
• Production, Mixing and Engineering by Jonathan Pearce
• Additional Vocal Engineering and Production by Elizabeth Stokes
• Additional Production on Track 1 by Benjamin Locke
• Safety Announcements on Track 2 by Rose Matafeo
• Additional Mixing by Bevan Smith
• Mastering by Larry Killip
• Cover artwork: Philippa Emery
• Cover design: Kyle Ranudo
• Liner photography: Amanda Cheng
• A huge thank you to all our friends and families to Katie Everingham, Chris Pearce and Adam Tobeck, to Marsha Permadhi, to Jake Snell, Apple Bagios, Todd Hyman, Steph Salas, Alec Moss, Katie Cheyne, Beth Townsend, Andy Moss, Josh Clarke, Tommy Hudson, Brian Swanson, Chris Palmer, Joren Huevels, Casey O’Shaughnessy, Anthony Metcalf and Nath Wood, to David Parker, Dave Rowlands, Dave Dobbyn, Alistair Deverick, Alex Freer, Paddy Hill and The Finns, Bob Frisbee, Oliver Devlin and Callum Passells
• To everyone who has come to a show or listened to our music
• To everyone who helped us, hosted us and fed us
Review
∫ Everything changed for The Beths when they released their debut album, Future Me Hates Me, in 2018. The indie rock band had long been nurtured within Auckland, New Zealand’s tight~knit music scene, working full~time during the day and playing music with friends after hours.
∫ Full of uptempo pop rock songs with bright, indelible hooks, the LP garnered them critical acclaim from outlets like Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, and they set out for their first string of shows overseas. They quit their jobs, said goodbye to their hometown, and devoted themselves entirely to performing across North America and Europe. They found themselves playing to crowds of devoted fans and opening for acts like Pixies and Death Cab for Cutie. Almost instantly The Beths turned from a passion project into a full~time career in music. Songwriter and lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes worked on what would become The Beths’ second LP, Jump Rope Gazers, in between these intense periods of touring. Like the group’s earlier music, the album tackles themes of anxiety and self~doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Stokes’s writing on Jump Rope Gazers grapples with the uneasy proposition of leaving everything and everyone you know behind on another continent, chasing your dreams while struggling to stay close with loved ones back home.
∫ “If you’re at a certain age, all your friends scatter to the four winds,” Stokes says. “We did the same thing. When you’re home, you miss everybody, and when you’re away, you miss everybody. We were just missing people all the time.”
∫ With songs like the rambunctious “Dying To Believe” and the tender, shoegazey “Out of Sight,” The Beths reckon with the distance that life necessarily drives between people over time. People who love each other inevitably fail each other. “I’m sorry for the way that I can’t hold conversations/They’re such a fragile thing to try to support the weight of,” Stokes sings on “Dying to Believe.” The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel. On “Out of Sight,” she pledges devotion to a dearly missed friend: “If your world collapses/I’ll be down in the rubble/I’d build you another,” she sings.
∫ “It was a rough year in general, and I found myself saying the words, ‘wish you were here, wish I was there,’ over and over again,” she says of the time period in which the album was written. Touring far from home, The Beths committed themselves to taking care of each other as they were trying at the same time to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. They encouraged each other to communicate whenever things got hard, and to pay forward acts of kindness whenever they could. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it — a sentiment we need now more than ever.
Also:
By Jonathan Wright · On July 6, 2020 · Score: 9
∫ http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2020/07/06/the-beths-jump-rope-gazers-carpark-records/
by Jade, June 26, 2020
∫ https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2020/06/26/live-virtual-session-the-beths
Bandcamp: https://href.li/?https://thebethsnz.bandcamp.com/album/jump-rope-gazers-2
Website: https://thebeths.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/thebethsnz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizstokedstokes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizstokedstokes/
The Beths — Jump Rope Gazers (July 10th, 2020)
•• Všechno, co činilo debutové album Future Me Hates Me (10 Aug. 2018/Larry Fitzmaurice: score: 7.9) zvláštním, zůstává i na nádherném druhém albu The Beths. Jump Rope Gazers potvrzuje, že skupina má vřelost, dar pro vytváření písní zaměřených na srdce a sílu zůstat v hlavě. JON DOLAN z Rolling Stone označil band za fantastický. Menší skupina by nebyla tak efektivní a být originálním není to, co dělá kapelu tak roztomilou. Na tento sound jsou opravdovými odborníky a dynamika jejich hudby je natolik promyšlená, že jejich příběhy o posedlosti, žalu a úzkosti jsou nadčasové. Není to jen vhodné následování jejich klasického debutu- Je to také známka toho, že rychle se stávají nejlepším bandem v okolí. Po bezchybném debutu neměli Beths žádný problém. Svým prvním singlem „Dying To Believe“ okamžitě zabodovali. V něm kapela projevuje své vřelé, kompaktní aranžmá. Má stejnou hořko~sladkost jako Future Me Hates Me, protože melodie kontrastuje se smutkem v hlase Elizabeth Stokes. Je zde určitý postoj nejistoty — „Nesnažím se přerušit Vás — vysoké a mocné..., a pravděpodobně se nebudu učit lekce, v těchto dnech se snažím vydržet své vlastní reflexivní vzory“. Kontrolovaná kompozice osmé Mars, the God of War je úžasná, stejně jako její tlumená harmonie, kterou vnímám jako oslňující kolečko vítězství. Vyžaduje to dovednost, aby kombinace indie~ a power~pop soundu vyzněla tak svěže, přičemž The Beths skloubily to nejlepší z obou sub~žánrů. Písničkářství Elizabeth Stokes je plné bolestivých pravd, humoru, chytrých slovních hříček a schopnosti přitáhnout množství srdcí. Za mne vrcholy jsou: Dying to Believe, Jump Rope Gazers a zejména poslední Just Shy of Sure. Album má však zejména sílu jako celek: je kompaktní a náladotvorné. „Úspěchy zapisuj do kamene, selhání do písku.“
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Album release: July 10th, 2020
Record Label: Carpark Records/Rough Trade
Duration: 38:49
Tracks:
01. I’m Not Getting Excited 2:42
02. Dying to Believe 3:34
03. Jump Rope Gazers 5:12
04. Acrid 4:07
05. Do You Want Me Now 4:16
06. Out of Sight 3:40
07. Don’t Go Away 4:11
08. Mars, the God of War 2:53
09. You Are a Beam of Light 3:51
10. Just Shy of Sure 4:24
The Beths
• Guitar: Elizabeth Stokes, Jonathan Pearce
• Bass Guitar: Benjamin Sinclair
• Drums: Tristan Deck
• Vocals, Percussion: All
Credits:
• ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ was recorded in Jonathan Pearce’s studio in Auckland, NZ between November 2019 and February 2020
• All songs written by Elizabeth Stokes
• Arranged by The Beths
• Production, Mixing and Engineering by Jonathan Pearce
• Additional Vocal Engineering and Production by Elizabeth Stokes
• Additional Production on Track 1 by Benjamin Locke
• Safety Announcements on Track 2 by Rose Matafeo
• Additional Mixing by Bevan Smith
• Mastering by Larry Killip
• Cover artwork: Philippa Emery
• Cover design: Kyle Ranudo
• Liner photography: Amanda Cheng
• A huge thank you to all our friends and families to Katie Everingham, Chris Pearce and Adam Tobeck, to Marsha Permadhi, to Jake Snell, Apple Bagios, Todd Hyman, Steph Salas, Alec Moss, Katie Cheyne, Beth Townsend, Andy Moss, Josh Clarke, Tommy Hudson, Brian Swanson, Chris Palmer, Joren Huevels, Casey O’Shaughnessy, Anthony Metcalf and Nath Wood, to David Parker, Dave Rowlands, Dave Dobbyn, Alistair Deverick, Alex Freer, Paddy Hill and The Finns, Bob Frisbee, Oliver Devlin and Callum Passells
• To everyone who has come to a show or listened to our music
• To everyone who helped us, hosted us and fed us
Review
∫ Everything changed for The Beths when they released their debut album, Future Me Hates Me, in 2018. The indie rock band had long been nurtured within Auckland, New Zealand’s tight~knit music scene, working full~time during the day and playing music with friends after hours.
∫ Full of uptempo pop rock songs with bright, indelible hooks, the LP garnered them critical acclaim from outlets like Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, and they set out for their first string of shows overseas. They quit their jobs, said goodbye to their hometown, and devoted themselves entirely to performing across North America and Europe. They found themselves playing to crowds of devoted fans and opening for acts like Pixies and Death Cab for Cutie. Almost instantly The Beths turned from a passion project into a full~time career in music. Songwriter and lead vocalist Elizabeth Stokes worked on what would become The Beths’ second LP, Jump Rope Gazers, in between these intense periods of touring. Like the group’s earlier music, the album tackles themes of anxiety and self~doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Stokes’s writing on Jump Rope Gazers grapples with the uneasy proposition of leaving everything and everyone you know behind on another continent, chasing your dreams while struggling to stay close with loved ones back home.
∫ “If you’re at a certain age, all your friends scatter to the four winds,” Stokes says. “We did the same thing. When you’re home, you miss everybody, and when you’re away, you miss everybody. We were just missing people all the time.”
∫ With songs like the rambunctious “Dying To Believe” and the tender, shoegazey “Out of Sight,” The Beths reckon with the distance that life necessarily drives between people over time. People who love each other inevitably fail each other. “I’m sorry for the way that I can’t hold conversations/They’re such a fragile thing to try to support the weight of,” Stokes sings on “Dying to Believe.” The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel. On “Out of Sight,” she pledges devotion to a dearly missed friend: “If your world collapses/I’ll be down in the rubble/I’d build you another,” she sings.
∫ “It was a rough year in general, and I found myself saying the words, ‘wish you were here, wish I was there,’ over and over again,” she says of the time period in which the album was written. Touring far from home, The Beths committed themselves to taking care of each other as they were trying at the same time to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. They encouraged each other to communicate whenever things got hard, and to pay forward acts of kindness whenever they could. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Their most emotive and heartfelt work to date, Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it — a sentiment we need now more than ever.
Also:
By Jonathan Wright · On July 6, 2020 · Score: 9
∫ http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2020/07/06/the-beths-jump-rope-gazers-carpark-records/
by Jade, June 26, 2020
∫ https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2020/06/26/live-virtual-session-the-beths
Bandcamp: https://href.li/?https://thebethsnz.bandcamp.com/album/jump-rope-gazers-2
Website: https://thebeths.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/thebethsnz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizstokedstokes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizstokedstokes/