The Beta Band
Hot Shots II

THE REVIEW

One of the most brilliant and misunderstood bands of recent years, the Beta Band, although they never matched the extraordinary heights of their 3 EPs, reached another high point with this 2001 release. Hot Shots II has nothing to do with the sound of the early EPs; after all, it was no longer possible to repeat that magical era. However, the record manages to explore a new sonic direction with great effectiveness and it represents the band's best attempt to limit their experimental instincts while making the most of them in the service of more pop and thus shorter songs. The need to reconcile unrestrained and free trends with an essential format while avoiding excessive prolongation was the real obsession of the band and perhaps the cause of their recent, sad breakup. The effort to reconcile these two tendencies proved increasingly arduous and with uncertain outcomes.

Hot Shots II is the album that best achieves this synthesis: the songs are well-focused, square, without compromising the sense of estrangement, of otherness that has always been the strong side of the Beta Band. The result is very intriguing.
Electronic elements are used effectively to underline the offbeat and skewed rhythms of the songs. The melodies, as often happens, are simultaneously catchy, hypnotic, and unusual. If past reference points are to be indicated, one can only mention Syd Barrett while keeping in mind that a significant musical update has been made, so it's not a simple rehash of past models.
"Square," "Human Being," "Gone", and the others are vignettes balancing between electronics and pop that immerse the listener in an airy, relaxing, and relaxed atmosphere, cool without being too self-aware. The Beta Band sound fluid, fresh, satisfied to have found a new, temporary sonic identity in the mad and intriguing race for continuous renewal that will lead them to break up.

The album concludes with "Eclipse", a long and beautiful track both vocally and instrumentally, an expansive ride through a delirious, ironic, playful, and varied world, a nursery rhyme where vocal games and inventions follow one another relentlessly. What more could you want? An almost-masterpiece track within a work that is not a masterpiece but is nonetheless a precious testament to the possibility of still being original in the new millennium.