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Rating: 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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Squares (03:46)
I seen the demons but they didn't make a sound
They tried to reach me but I lay upon the ground
I seen the people but they didn't make a sound
They tried to reach me but I gave the runaround
I reached for feelings but they didn't make a sound
They tried to reach me but I lay upon the ground
I saw miles and miles of squares, where's the feeling there
Still nobody cares for miles and miles of squares
Daydream I fell asleep beneath the flowers
02 Al Sharp (03:34)
Is it because I'm beside myself with love
That I can't say these things to you, honey?
Or is it because I'm beside myself with guilt
That I can't say these things to you, honey?
You and me
Will never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me must never be fine
Is it because a life beyond the heart was taken out for good?
Al Sharp, he got that money
All because the Power Ranger robots in the skies
Have called a war, to you honey
You and me (To you honey)
Will never be (To you honey)
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (To smile) (To you honey)
Must never be (To you honey)
Fine
Old Al Sharp, he laughs in the face of dark
Al Sharp, he laughs in the face of God
He tried the honey
(He's a liar and a cheat and he falls on the weak)
He tried for money
Thievin' on your mind
Thievin' on your mind, ah
You and me
(Thievin' on your mind, ah)
Will never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine (Thievin')
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind)
Will never be (Leavin' on your mind)
Fine (Never you mind)
(Never you mind, ooh)
05 Dragon (04:56)
Jumpin up & down & foolin around
Is it ever any wonder that you get knocked down
Comin down fast gonna pass you on the right
I loved you before but now I turn in the night
Why you never seem to try
Moving down the way & getting lost
Blackness is [a place] in my mind
The less that you know is the more that you learn
Is there any point in knowledge when you?re old [and infirm]
Why you never seem to try
[keep a ** is a***? Cruel thing?]
How could you hear how to feel it?
How could you hear how to sing it?
I never been the type to sing all night but Aaaaaaaaah!
Sitting on your bed [being?bean?] balanced on your head
Rolling back those fears
The loose lipped trouble dutch double on the monkey
You can see it in his face when you hear it in his [voice]
Why you never seem to try?
How could you hear how to feel it?
How could you hear how to sing it?
I never been the type to sing all night but Aaaaaaaaah!
How the west was won its a lie but its made to sound like fun
07 Quiet (04:49)
There's a quiet little man
and he sits at his window
Doesn't make a sound
but he watches where the wind blows
Wants to go outside
fears wouldn't let him
[Force] a little smile
and the fears come rolling
la la bum bum dum dum dum dum
You can go outside where the sun & the people blind you
You can go outside where the love of the people finds you - it will find you
When he walks through the maze
in the circles of his back place
[While the Jew ] on his roof
is still tieing up his shoelace
He will [never curse] again
all the days on his home spent
Nailing all the doors
& jumping through the window
08 Alleged (05:30)
Oh Ma there's a hole in my head
Used the bullets that come with the gun you gave me
Shine a light into my head,
see the place where we were gonna live
Before you ran off with your spaceman
left me here without a place for us
Oh Ma there's a hole in my head
Used the bullets that come with the gun you gave me
Used to be funny when you told me jokes
layin around you & me both when I
Try to remember my favorite one
all I get's a vision of the gun - imagine.
Oh Ma there's a hole in my head
Used the bullets that come with the gun you gave me
Yes its true, I love you - how does it feel without me?
I don't know what you're gonna do,
I don't know where you're gonna go
I don't know who you want to see,
I don't know who you want to be
I don't know why I want to know,
I don't know why you didn't show
I don't know why I didn't see,
I don't know why I didn't leave
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