But the Beatings aren't a tribute band. Although they do wear their influences on their sleeves (touches of Radiohead, Pixies, Sonic Youth, and giant helpings of Husker Du are what I'm hearing), this is to be expected for a relatively young band working in a close-knit genre looming with giants. It is really, really hard to find your own voice and write original songs (I should know... I've been trying (and failing) for fifteen years), but four(ish) short years into their career, The Beatings sound most like... themselves.
If Not Now, Then When? features five tracks (two from their upcoming album, two outtakes, and the eponymous single) that are for the most part lovely, demanding, and richly textured. The Beatings are at their best on the album cuts: the headspinningly noisy "Feel Good Ending" and "Stockholm Syndrome Relapse," each of which manage the trick of being simultaneously moody, catchy, and new-sounding. The two outtakes are outtake-worthy, neither great nor disposable, which is a lot more than I could say for most single-padding material I've heard.
The most interesting song, anthropologically speaking, is the title track "If Not Now, Then When?" A longtime live staple, it is a soft-loud raveup in the tradition of the Pixies complete with screaming vocals and dissonant guitars . Although decent enough, it is mainly valuable for showing how far the band have come in getting the arty-indie-edgy-for-edgy's-sake thing out of their system.
Given that the newest songs on If Not Now, Then When? are the best, I await this winter's release of their new full length(tentatively titled Holding On To Hand Grenades with 'bated breath. These kids could soon be really, really great.
(The Beatings rock it indie grassroots stylee. Buy their album here or here.)
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