There are two bands called the Beets. The first were a fictional take on the mega-stardom and music of The Beatles, as seen in best-forgotten 90′s cartoon Doug. They sang songs about killer tofu and breakfast rotting your teeth. The second are three men from New York who make fuzzy rock and roll records and generally sound like they’re amongst the hippest people in the world. Whilst ‘I eat sugar cereal, but it makes my teeth bacterial’ was undeniably a great tune from a somewhat drab animated series, it’s easily the second band that are more exciting.
The garage rock sound is hardly one that has been patented, and Thee Oh Sees and Black Lips have trod similar ground in the past. Thankfully, it’s in plentiful supply, and any act that can combine the drowsy swishing of guitar with a drenching of reverb is always going to be halfway to success, but The Beets are in a different league. Their brilliance sounds effortless, with the laid back attitude to match – something mockingly referenced in the title of their debut album ‘The Beets spit on the face of people who don’t want to be cool’. Put out on Blank Dog’s Captured Tracks label last year on CD and limited to 200 hundred physical copies, it should come as no surprise that the only way you’re going to be able to own a copy now is digitally.
For the many crimes that lo-fi culture has committed against good taste, this comes some way close to an apology. Loose and far from technically proficient, the threesome get by on good tunes strummed messily. Even if it’s not enough to get well more known than a made-up group from Nickelodeon, they’re still superb.
The Beets – What did I do? [download via the music slut]
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fear not! there are still many many copies of the record for you. i think the first 200 you mentioned were hand drawn copies. You should be able to find their records at the captured tracks website