Heart-heartbeat Beats...gets beaten...then aches...

Having a wee bit of a revelation with the tunes on this tape...

There's something to be said for the invigorating bluster and blown-out fuzz firing from any band's live performance - particularly that of Detroit trio Deadbeat Beat...with their jangled and jittered, billowed-and-wavy pop's distinctive punch and reverb-crinkled riffs...

That's all well and wonderous in it's own foot-stomping, head-bobbing, ear-shearing way...

But in another way... through other means, one can settle it down, put some headphones on, and delve into the subtler nuances of the songs: particularly their honed harmonies and the intertwining guitars. The core of their sound might have felt something close to that shimmering, easy-going road-trip surf pop worn so well and so notably by acts like Best Coast (a band they opened for on their inaugeral show, one-full-year-ago)...but it's gestated into something much more substantial, if just dashed with deeper contemplations and a bit more of a darker edge. Altogether it's a reflection upon the ever maturing songwriting sensibilities of perennial-collaborators Alex Glendening and Maria Nuccilli (whom you'll remember their pre-20's up-and-at-em/shambolic-sunshine songs played in The Decks...), but also it displays Outrageous Cherry's audio guru Matt Smith's keen sense for layering a lush, jangly bubble-gum smacked-psyche-dashed pop song. Oh the dazzling and darkly-fuzzed guitar cascade and rushing percussive tumble of "No God..." Eesh.

It's a subtle, yet sparkling montage of Beach Boys meets Beat Happening...made all the more substantive by hearing the crisper delivery of their charmingly sardonic lyrics...introspective at times, albeit also breezy and biting. "and if I never try to destroy myself / then I'll never become anyone else..."

Yes, there's elements of surf...and pop.....I just wish all surf-pop would aim to be this distinctive... like a pop song about a garbage incinerator...or why not throw a Wire cover in, too?

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