Beat! Beat! Beat! – Stars (2009)
German bands don’t often manage to cross to this damp isle, and it’s only really when they can sing in English, but let’s face it, many of our own artists have trouble doing that anyway. Beat! Beat! Beat! have been hailed as the ‘new Foals‘, cracking out some angular guitar parts with disco beats all over the shop. This is their debut release, and at the ripe age of 18, these guys have got tons of time to take over the indie-pop scene.
The album opens up with Stars, a seriously catchy pop track, with some ambient elements coming in at the beginning before some great lyrics and well-written guitar riffs. We Are Waves is another great number, although it is a bit more downtempo to the rest of the EP, and almost has elements that remind me of The Strokes in the vocal work.
I heard about Fireworks courtesy of the NME, who gave it away as a free track. This has so many elements of Foals in it you might even think they kidnapped one of the guitarists and let him lay down the riff. It’s a pretty awesome though, and also makes sure the indie-disco beat stays strong. The main riffs works so well together, sliding all over the place in perfect synchronisation. Punchy basslines and pretty random lyrics make this song a good one to nod your head to.
One thing I have noticed is that the tracks all seem to be a little bit different. This could be a good thing, or it could be that they are still climbing the rickety ladder to find their ‘core’ sound. Fireworks is certainly my favourite of the 3, but this EP is just a taster to show people what they can do, so their full-length album is sure to cause a bit of commotion.
By Mark Allen
Tags: 2009, album, beat! beat! beat!, fireworks, foals, german, nme, Stars, we are stars
