Upon first listen, The Beths’ debut album, Future Me Hates Me, bleeds together too much, the songs slipping imperceptibly from one to the next. But soon enough, the bubble-grunge riffs and Motown-backup-singer “whoa-ohs” start to distinguish themselves. The New Zealand band has two gears: The first is a more classically pop-oriented retro sound, like a ’60s girl group doing the shimmy-shimmy-cocoa-pop but with guitars and a shoegaze influence. The second is a caffeinated ’90s alterna-rock head rush, with Superchunk-level riffs and Velocity Girl vocals courtesy of singer-guitarist Elizabeth Stokes.
It can tend toward the simplistic—the title track apes early Weezer, for example—but the middle of the album (particularly “Not Running”) shows that when the band embraces its more rambunctious and harder-edged sound, it captures something powerful. By the time the last notes of the slow-build barnburner “Less Than Thou” close things out, Stokes’ mission is clear: a joyous refusal to stop riffing, no matter how heartbroken.
The Beths‘ forthcoming album, “Future Me Hates Me.”
The Fat Angel Sings 