The Beta Band might well rank as one of the most frustrating
acts on the music radar. They burst onto the scene in 1997 with a
series of beguiling oddball EPs of rambling rock that John Cusack
found so utterly wonderful he rewrote the High Fidelity
screenplay in order to reference them. Since then, they’ve released two albums, the first of
which they memorably disowned in the NME as “fucking
awful”. Whilst this may have been overstating the matter, neither The
Beta Band, nor its sequel Hot Shots IIhave been able to recreate
the elusive playfulness and experimentation of their debut. Heroes to Zeros, however, is at least a partial return to
form. First single and album opener ‘Assessment’ is an
instant winner, establishing a more robust sound that
characterises the album as a whole. The elastic bass-line of
‘Easy’ is a joy, as is the haunting refrain of “I
love you to pieces” on ‘Space Beatle’. However, John Cusack’s next adaptation will have to go
unaltered: Heroes to Zeros is still not quite the classic album
that The Beta Band’s potential tantalisingly promises. Even
so, the richness of their arrangements hints that they are not
done growing yet (if that is the right word for returning to the
attributes which made them special in the first place). There is no need to live in anticipation; Heros to Zeros is a
thoroughly enjoyable listen, and will certainly do for now, even
if fans of the original EPs wil be left a little unsated.ARCHIVE: 1st week TT 2004
The Beta Band
