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Aug 13, 2019 Web Exclusive By Michael James Hall

A swift follow-up to last year’s rightly acclaimed >>> album, here on the Life Goes On EP we get a brief, bountiful insight into the current mindset of Beak> (Geoff Barrow of Portishead, Billy Fuller, and Will Young) as they push their Krautrock-inspired experimental psych band into further and further reaches of retro-referencing paired with a freshness; a newness as bright as a fresh coat of paint.

Our lead and title track is a juddering, shuddering thing pairing pounding rhythms with wailing guitar and mournful, haunting vocals—though it’s accessible in comparison to the song that follows. Track two, “We Can Go,” is a lo-fi strum that feels like R Stevie Moore has eaten early Babybird—it’s VHS-pop of the highest order with that Cobain-like guitar sound they often employ.

On the Kraftwerk alien disco of “Minus Pillow” we’re jolted into a warped, sideways sonic universe—shifting, pulsing, and surprising as it snakes and turns against a precise, snapping beat. It has a bedroom sound that’s somehow both claustrophobic and welcoming, an overwhelming hug.

We wrap up with “Allé Sauvage (Mario Batkovic version),” which is a perversely singular cover of the track that appeared on their previous LP and featuring only Batkovic’s mesmeric solo accordion playing. Weird. But the right kind. Which sums up this little slice of sour-sweetness pretty well. (www.beak.bandcamp.com)

Author rating: 7/10