Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Beatifics - How I Learned to Stop Worrying - 1996


Lyrically bitter but musically sweet, How I Learned to Stop Worrying demonstrates the Beatifics' ability to mask their often heartbreaking tales with sunny pop melodies in the style of Matthew Sweet and the Velvet Crush. Anchored by a steadily drummed beat, "Almost Something There" immediately sets the album's tone with its jangling tones and aching vocals, while "This Year's Jessica" creates a hybrid of early-Beatles' pop sheen and the Replacements' raw, disheveled rock. With its handclaps and angelic harmonies, the '60s-flavored "Happy to Be Sad" would not sound out of place on the soundtrack for That Thing You Do. The Beatifics don't really break any new ground here, but few bands sound as good recycling their influences as this quartet does on tracks like "Something/Anything?" and "Crazy Lovesick Heart." A consistently satisfying debut, How I Learned to Stop Worrying provides no reason to believe that the Beatifics can't become one of the truly memorable power-pop bands of the '90s and beyond. -AMG

Mediafire

4 comments:

shader said...

great! This album is ranked nr. 73 on the 'Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide' by John Borack.
Can't wait to hear this one. This must be very good!

Haper said...

This was always a fave. What a great blog you've got going!

Anonymous said...

The mid 90s was a precarious time to be courted by record labels. If your debut didnt blow up Nirvana style your were sent packing. Uber hyped mpls bands such as balloon guy, polara, shatterproof , and sadly the beautifics were all letdown by the business side of things.
The beautifics

Skyscraper said...

This is a lost classic, and anonymous is quite right - these guys had momentum, but their label dropped the ball bigtime.

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin