Not to be all, “I knew The Beths before they were cool,” but I knew The Beths before they were cool. At least before they were cool in America, I’m not so sure about New Zealand. I got lucky. Studying abroad in Palmerston North, NZ, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to find any show spaces. It felt like a strange town, and I didn’t see many young people aside from those at my university. As fate would have it, there was a little concert being put on for the students outside early in the semester. I was sitting in my dorm having forgotten about it when my friends all texted me telling me to get my ass down to the main campus- they had just heard the band warm up and they knew I’d like them.
I’m so happy to have friends who
know me so well, cause they were fucking right. The Beths played the tightest
set I’d seen in a while. They were so in sync, such talented songwriters and
musicians. It was all the better because of how unexpected and sudden it seemed.
I walked down a flight of stairs and found one of my new favorite bands in the
span of ten minutes. The crowd was way too thin, but my group of friends and I
were having a blast. After the show we all went up and bought t-shirts and CDs.
After I downloaded the CD into my computer,[1]
I sent it over in a care package to my partner James who also quickly fell in
love with them. It was their EP Warm Blood[2].
Two years later they released their
first full album, Future Me Hates Me. Me, James, and two of my friends from New
Zealand who also lived in Baltimore, all got to see them again in DC. After the
show we again went to the merch table and told the band how thrilled we were to
see them both in their home country and ours. They were and are so kind and
bashful, even after winning three (!!) Aotearoa Awards last month, and
countless praise from big name publications like Pitchfork and Stereogum.
I often do this thing where I think
of bands and artists as belonging to me. At its worst, it’s elitist,
gatekeeping, and pretentious. At its best… it is what it is, but I can’t help
but think of The Beths as mine because I saw them in such a far away place. A
few months after I got back from my trip, my friend Jane played a Beths song,
and I’m ashamed to say I felt almost angry that she had discovered them without
my help. But The Beths are so talented that it feels justified to want to claim
a piece of that. Their songs are peppy and upbeat, even with lyrics that reveal
hidden anxiety and doubt. It’s so relatable while also being an absolute bop,
full of crazy guitar solos, harmonized “oo”s, and catchy hooks. It’s easy to
see why they’ve reached such incredible global acclaim in such a short time. Watching
their live shows from home during quarantine has
been a massive treat, one that always brings me back to that sunny day in New
Zealand when I got so lucky and saw them live for the first time.
I highly suggest listening to all
their albums. If you want to mimic my journey, sit in a sun patch and listen to
the Warm Blood EP, then Future Me Hates Me, then Jump Rope Gazers. Watch their
videos in the gorgeous landscapes of New Zealand, and revel in their musical
abilities while dreaming of a country without COVID.
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