Beat Happening - Look Around '2015

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Our Secret
02. Foggy Eyes
03. Bad Seeds
04. What’s Important
05. Look Around
06. Bewitched
07. In Between
08. Indian Summer
09. Other Side
10. Black Candy
11. Cast a Shadow
12. Nancy Sin
13. Knock On Any Door
14. Left Behind
15. Red Head Walking
16. Fortune Cookie Prize
17. Hot Chocolate Boy
18. Pine Box Derby
19. Tiger Trap
20. Godsend
21. Teenage Caveman
22. Noise
23. Angel Gone


A career-spanning Beat Happening collection was long overdue when it finally
arrived in 2015. Thanks to Domino Records, the band finally started to get the
reissue treatment many bands of their stature had been getting for years. The 23
tracks chosen by the bandmembers themselves include their first single, 1984s
Look Around, and tracks from their five albums and singles, and ends with their
surprise 2000 single Angel Gone, which was released with the Crashing Through
box set. Its the perfect starting place for someone who maybe heard about the
band and wants to check them out, and its also a reminder for longtime fans of
just how many brilliant songs they had. Its almost staggering when they are all
collected in one place like this. The trio of Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and
Bret Lunsford were able to create a sound from the very beginning that was
inviting in its simplicity and deceptively deep lyrically, with tunes so catchy
that they stick halfway through the first listen. Sometimes called twee or
child-like, their songs are actually quite often dark and brooding with
undercurrents of death and sex lurking just below the crashing and strumming
surface. Besides, any band who loved the Cramps as much as Beat Happening did
could hardly be twee. Check the thundering crunch of Bad Seed or the noir strut
of Nancy Sin, then try to make the case they are anything less than a great rock
band. Listen to the aching beauty of Cast a Shadow or Fortune Cookie Prize and
they are a sweet pop band. On the epic Godsend or the truly enchanting Tiger
Trap they are indie rock at its best and most moving. Their greatest almost-hit,
Indian Summer, was covered by R.E.M., Luna, and Benjamin Gibbard. Between
Johnsons deadpan vocal delivery, his lovingly crafted persona, and his creepy
and humorous lyrics, Lewis less theatrical, open-hearted singing and writing,
and Lunsfords steady musicianship, the band formed the kind of complementary
bond most bands would kill to have. Their pieces fit together perfectly and
their songs are short bursts of pop music that at their best come as close to
perfection as anybodys ever have. This collection is full of heart-warming,
life-affirming moments that reinforce the bands status as one of the best
American indie pop bands to ever pick up guitars and as such, its vital
listening for pretty much anyone and everyone interested in that style.

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