First and foremost – congratulations to The Beat Maras, for this has been one of the strangest reviewing experiences I have had to date. The process with singles and EP's is to make a snap judgement off the first thirty seconds and then spend the rest of the time working out exactly what it is you want to say about the band. Sometimes, things improve and your initial pithy statement has t be retracted as you are forced into a rethink – which can often result in extra reviewing points merely for proving you wrong. At other times your initial optimism turns to shame as you realise you had high hopes for something that is equally banal and diabolical – at which point they get terrible reviews borne more from disappointment. This review has undergone several rethinks, of which i will try and explain the process.
'Getaway Car' starts with much chaos and noise, crunching guitars and a prominent solid drum-beat. Then the verse kicks in and it seems a little wayward – like Lenny Kravitz being experimental. They seem like they may just be your average meat and potatoes rock band. Then without any notice, it morphs into an industrial rock number that reminds you of why you used to like Kasabian. It's grows, it climaxes and then it fades. Overall, it's an amazing tune – it takes you on a journey and is therefore rewarding.
High hopes take you into second track 'The Huaraz Song,' which is the antithesis of 'Getway Car.' It begins with an acoustic guitar and some distorted spoken word element. All good – nice bit of range. Then the main lyrics kick in, and you feel like you've been kicked in the balls – and all of the preceding minutes of positivity were a huge mistake. No song should include the lyrics “Why do the stars keep burning?/Why does the world keep turning?” (or words to that effect). The lyrics fade out and the instrumental to the end adds further confusion by being really pleasant, catchy and well played.
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'Groping Like The Caveman' offers a further element to them. A dark, orchestral Libertines meets The Decemberists meets Gomez affair. It's bold and dramatic and seeks to tell a story. It suggests that with more practice, The Beat Maras could become very good at this type of song. Once again, it's an opposite of what went before it – it shows composition and structure and real thought. The lyrics are also pretty good – a nice clear message told in an entertaining way.
'The Beauty and The Horror' really hammers home The Libertines link. But it's grandiose Libertines. Pete and Carl being the poets they were always perceived to be. It's not too far removed from the track before it, but again, the shocking lyrics return. “I wasn't man, I was a beast, oh I head out to the East.” Before they proceed, they definitely need to chuck out the rhyming dictionary and really experiment with their words.
If a band leave you unsure of what to think of them, then they are perhaps doing their job very well. I am very intrigued by how they develop – they really could go either way, let's hope they become something to be very excited about.
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