Beverly

So a couple of years ago I went to see Frankie Rose at the Echo (I'm a bit of a Miss Frankie Rose aficionado if  the truth be known) but to be honest I left that evening really impressed by her guitarist and keyboardist - Drew Citron - the focal-point of a wall of sound, expertly colouring-in the gaps and at times plucking chords so deep you'd swear it was a bass she was playing. The pair announced they had formed a new project, Beverly and released in "Careers" as good a slice of dreamy indie-pop as saw the light of day in 2014. But as luck would have it, by the time of the album's release Drew and Frankie had gone their separate ways - "creative differences" according to the serious music blogs - and so Drew regrouped and struck out anew - although not exactly flying solo, she's joined by bassist / guitarist Scott Rosenthal  - with not only a brand new album, "The Blew Swell" but a distinctive newly-honed sound. You can argue that this is Beverly 2.0 - rebooted...

That being said, for a split-second at least, "The Blue Swell" gives the impression of segueing seamlessly from "Careers." But then the harmonious, echoey and dreamy vocals of "Bulldozer" are rapidly engulfed by a wall of au-point cascading guitars married to pounding percussion. Breathless and dreamy vocals - the calm floating above the melodic maelstrom - find Drew rallying against the rape and pillaging of her Brooklyn neighbourhood by developers and property speculators. Throw-in a runaway Middle-Eight and fuzz to fade and the song is a storming example of guitar-fuelled indie-pop - encapsulating everything in its 3'32" that is so enjoyable about the genre - it's the sort of opening number that wills you to listen to the rest of the album.

And if the opener doesn't convince you that this is an album that deserves your upmost attention, then "Crooked cop" most - must - surely will. Anchored by layers of jangly and melodious Sixties-infused West Coast guitars - with a lilting intro that is to die-for - Drew's breathless vocals are the icing on top of this most scrumptious of indie-guitar cup-cakes. A song that is as much about that unrequited lover who's messing with your head as it is the stereotypical bent copper much beloved by Hollywood, it effortlessly pulls-off the trick of sounding both reassuringly familiar, yet - like the timeless classic that it is sure to become - refreshingly new.

It's this ability to create something original from so many recognisable genres that makes "The Blue Swell" so enjoyable. Droning guitar and elements of gorgeous shoegaziness drive the powerful "You said it" as Drew hits back at those spiteful comments we all make and wish we hadn't; "...Wrote a song but I'll never play it, Cause you said it and you can't unsay it..." But then she throw in a complete change of pace with the Middle-Eight - all dream-pop "Oohs" and "Aahs" as a degree of self-contemplation kicks-in - before the tempo picks-ups up, the red-mist descends and the song fades to reverbed, echoey feedback.    



"Victoria", co-written with Kip Berman - the driving force behind NY indie-popsters The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (and whose 2009 eponymous debut album should be required listening for any budding indie kid) - kicks-in with a Lo-Fi indie-pop feel, all flat monochrome vocals and guitar but as the opening verse draws to a close there's just a hint that things are going to get all technicolour; a few bars of swirling keys subside into a full-blown indie-pop anthem as metronomic percussion duels with fuzzy guitars and honeyed vocals that mask an air of despair and unrequited love. Oh and there is the most perfect of soaring refrains that I promise you'll be singing to yourself at the most (in)opportune of moments. But how do you top such a glorious refrain? If the song in question is "South Collins" - a film noir of a soundtrack that remains hidden in the shadows - you wrap-it in dreamy guitars, apply a veneer of shoegazy fuzz and reverb, languid percussion and finally add ethereal vocals which float above this uneasy calm (oh and dress Drew as an alluring night-club vamp).



"Lake house" continues with the darker theme - there's an undercurrent of menace in the foreboding lyrics; "...Don’t go out at midnight, You don’t know who is waiting by the door, In the darkness..." - guitars and percussion tumble into the dark, the rhythmic percussion propelling the song onwards into the gloom as  Drew's vocals pierce the inky blackness much as headlights illuminate a two lane flat-top. In fact you could argue that "Contact" is cut from the same cloth. Again, there's driving percussion, strident rock guitar blackens the mood - perfectly matching downbeat lyrics describing a friendship that has crashed and burnt (or as Drew puts it; "Titanic into iceberg...") But then about halfway through Drew's disposition lightens - the song veers towards dreamy West Coast indie - but there's a final twist. The gorgeous refrain - "...I need to understand..." which repeats endlessly to fade begins to sound just a little more desperate with repeated listens...

By now it's apparent that this album has gone over to the dark side. There's something quite creepy about the lyrics to "The smokey pines." It's a mix of stalker-confessional that runs hand-in-hand with a lingering unease at a mother's remarriage. However, the trick here is that the melody is so dreamy and Drew probably delivers the album's best vocal performance - they're absolutely faultless, note-perfect yet with the apparent warmth masking the underlying iciness of the lyrics' tone.

"You used to be a good girl" offers a tongue-in-cheek 'fuck you' to society's expectations that women who strike out on their own and break society's rigid chains are some how 'good girls gone bad.' The shortest song the album, it's rollicking good-fun - a heads-down-no-nonsense punky anthem - guaranteed to generate a seething mass of humanity - and while the chorus offer a nice change of pace (all the better to allow us old-timers to get our breath back), it's soon back for round two and flailing guitars and a touch of feedback to fade.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end (although that' why they invented the 'play again' button) and "The Blue Swell" closes with the hazy dream-pop of  "I don't wanna fight." Melody and lyrics are perfectly matched - languid guitars and gorgeous multi-tracked vocals expertly convey the feeling of exhaustion that become from constantly fighting and arguing. The experience is the aural equivalent of a cool down before launching straight back into the album again.

There's been a fair deal of commentary in the music press and blogs comparing "The Blue Swell" to its predecessor "Careers." To my mind, both stand on their own merits. Is one better than the other? No - they're different and deserve to be treated as such. To paraphrase Forrest Gump; "... Indie-pop is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get..." With "The Blue Swell" you get an album that knocks out hooks and melodies in its sleep, and which cleverly blurs the distinction between US and UK indie genres - sure there's a splash of Lush, a dab of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Camera Obscura and as was pointed out to me Teenage Fanclub  - although for for all their C86 credentials the Bellshill alt-rockers have a bit of a Sixties' West Coast guitar sound about them - but the album also channels the spirit of both West and East Coast rock; the lush pop of a Best Coast and the raw edge of Vivian Girls and the aforementioned The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

By a quirk of fate I commented at the time of its release that "Careers" acted as the perfect counterfoil to Kanine stablemates Fear of Men's "Loom." With both bands releasing albums this year (and NPR are streaming the Brighton trio's "Fall Forever" - trust me, it's very, very good) I'd suggest that the label will have at least two entries in this Blog's 'Best Of' come year's end...

Beverly (Website)
"The Blue Swell" (Bandcamp), (Kanine Records)