The Beths Jump Rope Gazers – 7th Level Music

The Beths release new single and announce Bandcamp livestream show for November 14th.

Earlier this summer, The Beths released their “lush, melodic” (New York Times) second album, Jump Rope Gazers, on Carpark Records. The new album has earned them nominations at the Aotearoa Music Awards for Best Group, Best Alternative Act, and Album of the Year. Previously in 2019, The Beths won Best Group and Best Alternative Act in addition to performing at the awards show.

Today, The Beths share the new video for “Mars, The God Of War.” Backed by buzzing guitar and crisp percussion, Elizabeth Stokes personifies the planet: “Mars, the god of war, is watching over me // So passively // From the twinkling scenery // Mars, the god of war // Pretending so serene // He’s keeping his hands clean.” As described by Stokes, the track is about communication and miscommunication through technological mediums, specifically while conveying anger. The accompanying video, directed by Callum Devlin and Annabel Kean of Sports Team, features The Beths comically attempting to pull off a heist. “The video has a really silly energy that everyone really embraced,” says Stokes. “With NZ being COVID-free, there’s a real palpable joy and euphoria in being able to get together and make something. We feel very lucky and Sports Team smashed it out of the park once again.“

Devlin and Kean add: “As well as being genius musicians, in our minds The Beths are defined by being a committed, intelligent and extremely efficient team, and have turned the collaborative inner workings of an indie rock band into an art in itself. We wanted to explore that side of the band in the ultimate team-up genre; a high stakes twist laden heist movie. Obviously. Also, we seem to find the idea of The Beths entering into a life of crime frankly hilarious. We love working with The Beths. No band is more committed to exhausting every possible gag out of a situation. We initially plotted out the entire film, but decided to abandon it in favour of making as gag-dense a video as possible, if that makes sense.”

Watch “Mars, The God Of War” Video

The Beths will livestream a performance from Auckland Town Hall on Nov. 14th at 5PM Eastern Timevia Bandcamp. “Soon, here in Auckland, New Zealand, we get to take the stage of our home’s beautiful Town Hall, and we would love you to join us. We’re trying to make something to come together for, online, around the world. We’ve been saying it over and over, we are so lucky to be able to play live shows right now. So we’re going to try to share that. We’ll be there for a warm-up hang out, and we’ll be in the chat throughout the performance too. Come and hang xo.” Tickets are available here.

Watch/Listen/Share:
“Mars, The God Of War” Video
“Jump Rope Gazers” Video
“Out of Sight” Video
“I’m Not Getting Excited” Video
“Dying to Believe” Video
“Live From House” live streams
Purchase Jump Rope Gazers

The Beths Tour Dates (tickets):
Fri. Nov. 6 – Auckland, NZ @ Town Hall
Sat. Nov. 7 – Gisborne, NZ @ Gisborne Beer Festival
Sat. Nov. 28 – Wellington, NZ @ Beers at the Basin
Sat. Dec. 19 – Hawkes Bay, NZ @ Black Barn Winery
Sun. Dec. 27 – Taupo, NZ @ Le Currents
Fri. Jan. 8 – Kerikeri, NZ @ Bay of Islands Festival
Tue. March 30 – Southampton, UK @ The Loft
Wed. March 31 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Thu. April 1 – Manchester, UK @ Club Academy
Fri. April 2 – Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
Sat. April 3 – Dublin, IE @ The Workman’s Club
Mon. April 5 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
Tue. April 6 – Birmingham, UK @ Castle and Falcon
Wed. April 7 – London, UK @ O2 Kentish Town
Thu. April 8 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Fri. April 9 – Paris, FR @ Point Éphémère
Sat. April 10 – Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare – Hors les mursSun. April 11 – Milan, IT @ BIKO
Tue. April. 13 – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Wed. April 14 – Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie
Thu. April 15 – Munich, DE @ Kranhalle
Fri. April 16 – Vienna, AT @ B72
Sat. April 17 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs’ Ballroom
Sun. April 18 – Belin, DE @ Lido
Tue. April 20 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Ideal Bar
Wed. April 21 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Thu. April 22 – Cologne, DE @ Artheater
Fri. April 23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
Sun. April 25 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique
Fri. Aug. 6 – Sun. Aug. 8 – San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands

Keep your mind open.

[Jump into the subscription box while you’re here.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: The Beths – Jump Rope Gazers

Most, if not all, of The Beths‘ new album, Jump Rope Gazers, was written while the New Zealand band (Tristan Deck – drums, Jonathan Pearce – guitar, Benjamin Sinclair – bass, Elizabeth Stokes – guitar and lead vocals) was touring North America and Europe. They were thrilled to be making a dream come true, but still missing everyone back home and across the world as they made new friends.

Opening track, “I’m Not Getting Excited,” has Stokes singing about the thrill of those dreams and the tenuous grasp she has on them (“I’m not getting excited, ’cause my fight and my flight are divided, and so I don’t enthuse, keep my grip on joy loose.”). Pearce’s guitar solo on it is a ripper, and the following track, “Dying to Believe,” has Stokes breathing easy after cutting the cord on a bad relationship (“There was a weight that you were weighing down on me. Six months ago I could hardly breathe, and now I’m lighter, finally.”). The beat on it is great. It will get you moving with a joy that sneaks up on you.

The title track has Stokes missing a love separated from her by time and distance (“I’ve never been the dramatic type, but if I don’t see your face tonight, I…well, I guess I’ll be fine.”). It’s a lovely track with bright guitar chords to keep it from being too melancholy. The power pop groove of “Acrid” is a great contrast to the song’s title. “Do You Want Me Now” has some of the boldest lyrics about missing someone while on tour – “Long distance is the wrong distance. There has never been a gulf quite as great as the one we wished into existence.” Damn. That is real.

Deck’s drum work on “Out of Sight” is excellent, knocking out wicked snare licks and rim taps so fast that he sounds like a typewriter (Remember those?) being operated by the Flash. “Don’t Go Away” is a song directed at a friend of the band who “flew north, left us in the south” and has the band unleashing heavy Weezer-like riffs made for blasting out of your dorm room windows.

“Mars, the God of War” is a great song of rage disguised in a power pop tune. Don’t believe me? Then you’ll probably believe Stokes’ lyrics of “I wish I could wish you well, instead I’m hitting my head and hitting backspace on ‘Can’t you just go to hell.’ Boom. “You Are a Beam of Light” is a beautiful acoustic track about seeking bright light and feelings in dark times. The closer, “Just Shy of Sure,” has Stokes tip-toeing back into the pool of love, but asking her lover to be patient. She’s been gone for a long while and has almost forgotten how to engage in the “real” world.

It’s another lovely record from The Beths. Stokes is a keen lyricist who gets better with each record.

Keep your mind open.

[I’d get excited if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

The Beths’ new single literally and figuratively is “Out of Sight.”

The Beths share “Out of Sight,” a new single from their highly-anticipated sophomore album, Jump Rope Gazers, out July 10th on Carpark Records. The band performed the single on their “Live From House 3” live stream last night. It follows previously released singles “I’m Not Getting Excited” and “Dying to Believe.”

“Out of Sight” is tender and shoegazing. It reckons with the distance that drives people apart and how those who love each other inevitably fail each other. The best way to repair that failure, in The Beths’ view, is with abundant and unconditional love, no matter how far it has to travel.

Elizabeth Stokes says, “The band playing on ‘Out Of Sight’ is more fragile than we usually allow ourselves to be. We are trying to listen more deeply and be more open ended, it was confronting to do and sometimes even frustrating. But it came out great, Ben’s bass playing especially is beautifully melodic and gives the song a unique texture.”

The accompanying video directed by Ezra Simons was filmed on Super 8 film and shows the band birdwatching amongst the brush. Archival footage of birds native to New Zealand are woven throughout. Simons says, “The goal was to create a nostalgic and timeless roadtrip video where the band goes off in search of native birds, but instead finds each other.”

Watch “Out of Sight” Video

The Beths are Elizabeth Stokes (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Pearce (guitar), Benjamin Sinclair (bass), and Tristan Deck (drums). Jump Rope Gazers is the follow-up to Future Me Hates Me, “one of the most impressive indie-rock debuts of the year” (Pitchfork). The album received glowing praise and appeared on many year-end lists including Rolling Stone, NPR, Stereogum, and more.

Jump Rope Gazers tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends. Touring far from home, The Beths committed to taking care of each other while simultaneously trying to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it.
Watch “Out of Sight” Video

Watch “I’m Not Getting Excited” VideoWatch “Dying to Believe” Video

“Live From House” live streams

Pre-Order Jump Rope Gazers

The Beths Tour Dates (tickets):
Sat. July 11 – Auckland, NZ @ Power Station
Sun. Nov 8 – Perth, WA @ HBF Park*
Wed. Nov. 11 – Melbourne, VIC @ Marvel Stadium*
Sat. Nov. 14 – Sydney, NSW @ Bankwest Stadium*
Tue. Nov. 17 – Brisbane, QLD @ QSAC Stadium*
Fri. Nov. 20 – Dunedin, NZ @ Forsyth Barr Stadium*
Sun. Nov. 22 – Auckland, NZ @ Mt Smart Stadium*
Tue. March 30 – Southampton, UK @ The Loft
Wed. March 31 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Thu. April 1 – Manchester, UK @ Club AcademyFri. April 2 – Glasgow, UK @ Saint Luke’s
Sat. April 3 – Dublin, IE @ The Workman’s Club
Mon. April 5 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
Tue. April 6 – Birmingham, UK @ Castle and Falcon
Wed. April 7 – London, UK @ O2 Kentish Town
Thu. April 8 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Fri. April 9 – Paris, FR @ Point Éphémère
Sat. April 10 – Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare – Hors les murs
Sun. April 11 – Milan, IT @ BIKO
Tue. April. 13 – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Wed. April 14 – Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie
Thu. April 15 – Munich, DE @ Kranhalle
Fri. April 16 – Vienna, AT @ B72
Sat. April 17 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs’ BallroomSun. April 18 – Belin, DE @ Lido
Tue. April 20 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega Ideal Bar
Wed. April 21 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
Thu. April 22 – Cologne, DE @ Artheater
Fri. April 23 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord
Sun. April 25 – Brussels, BE @ Ancienne Belgique

*w/ Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy

Keep your mind open.

[It would be out of sight if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR.]

You actually should be excited about The Beths’ new single – “I’m Not Getting Excited.”

The Beths share a fervent new single/video, “I’m Not Getting Excited,” from their second album, Jump Rope Gazers, out July 10th on Carpark Records. Following the rambunctious lead single, “Dying to Believe,” “I’m Not Getting Excited” is an urgent track about imposter syndrome. The track opens with driving guitar and a jockeying melody before bursting with a crashing rhythm section. The band performed the single on their “Live From House 2” live stream earlier this morning.

“People always ask ‘are you excited!?’ and it’s a fair question, because exciting things do happen to us sometimes,” says Elizabeth Stokes. “Support slots, overseas tours, music releases. Stuff we’ve dreamed about for years. So the correct answer is always ‘yes.’ But the truth is that deep down there’s a tiny Liz saying, ‘don’t get excited.’ She is certain that anything good that could happen will most likely not happen, because of a freak accident. Or because somebody finally realises that we aren’t worthy, shouts ‘phony!’ and takes everything away. I wrote ‘I’m Not Getting Excited’ last year, well before everything really did get taken away. From everyone. It feels like the song has a new context, but we don’t know what it is yet. And now we all share a blurry, uncertain future.”

The official video was filmed during the first month of lockdown in New Zealand. It’s a spooky more-is-more collage of animated night terrors. The directors Sports Team “turned our laundry into a film studio and spent our inside time mastering the art of stop-motion animation. We animated old towels, all the cardboard in the house and The Beths themselves… frame by bloody frame. There’s a lot of scary imagery in the song that we wanted to play on. There’s a madness too, in the contradiction between what the song is about and its frenetic energy. It has defined the lockdown for us—being locked indoors but furiously busy.”

Watch “I’m Not Getting Excited” Video:
https://youtu.be/lvYrJxNwW5I

Pre-Order Jump Rope Gazers:
https://smarturl.it/thebeths_jrg

The Beths Tour Dates:
Sun. Nov 8 – Perth, WA @ HBF Park*
Wed. Nov. 11 – Melbourne, VIC @ Marvel Stadium*
Sat. Nov. 14 – Sydney, NSW @ Bankwest Stadium*
Tue. Nov. 17 – Brisbane, QLD @ QSAC Stadium*
Fri. Nov. 20 – Dunedin, NZ @ Forsyth Barr Stadium*
Sun. Nov. 22 – Auckland, NZ @ Mt Smart Stadium*

*w/ Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy

Keep your mind open.

[I’ll be excited if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Patrick at Pitch Perfect PR!]

The Beths release “Dying to Believe” ahead of new album coming in July.

“[The Beths are] brilliant at bright guitar frenzy, instantly memorable melodies and tune-mad group sing-alongs with the joy of Sixties bubblegum rock; there’s a love of pop formula here… but they never lose the sense of discovery at heart of rock and roll.” — Rolling Stone

The Beths announce their new album, Jump Rope Gazers, out July 10th via Carpark Records, and share its lead single/video, “Dying to Believe.” Jump Rope Gazers is the follow-up to Future Me Hates Me, “one of the most impressive indie-rock debuts of the year” (Pitchfork). The album received glowing praise and appeared on many year-end lists including Rolling Stone, NPR, Stereogum, and more. Jump Rope Gazers tackles themes of anxiety and self-doubt with effervescent power pop choruses and rousing backup vocals, zeroing in on the communality and catharsis that can come from sharing stressful situations with some of your best friends.

After touring non-stop for a year and a half, playing to crowds of devoted fans and opening for acts like Pixies and Death Cab for Cutie, The Beths regrouped to write and record Jump Rope Gazers. The band – composed of Elizabeth Stokes (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Pearce (guitar), Benjamin Sinclair (bass), and Tristan Deck (drums) – settled down at Pearce’s Auckland studio, where he recorded and produced the album.

Stokes’s writing on Jump Rope Gazers grapples with the uneasy proposition of leaving everything and everyone you know behind on another continent, chasing your dreams while struggling to stay close with loved ones back home. Rambunctious lead single “Dying to Believe” reckons with the distance that life necessarily drives between people over time: “I’m sorry for the way that I can’t hold conversations // They’re such a fragile thing to try to support the weight of,” Stokes sings. The accompanying visual is an eccentric four-step “How to be the Beths” instructional video featuring the band.

Touring far from home, The Beths committed to taking care of each other while simultaneously trying to take care of friends living thousands of miles away. That care and attention shines through on Jump Rope Gazers, where the quartet sounds more locked in than ever. Jump Rope Gazers stares down all the hard parts of living in communion with other people, even at a distance, while celebrating the ferocious joy that makes it all worth it.

Acoustic versions of “Dying to Believe” and Future Me Hates Me favorites “Great No One” and “Little Death” as well as a Q&A with The Beths can be viewed from their recent livestream here.

Watch “Dying to Believe” Video:
https://youtu.be/CkzI93Aqztk

Pre-Order Jump Rope Gazers:
https://smarturl.it/thebeths_jrg

Jump Rope Gazers Tracklist:
1. I’m Not Getting Excited
2. Dying to Believe
3. Jump Rope Gazers
4. Acrid
5. Do You Want Me Now
6. Out of Sight
7. Don’t Go Away
8. Mars, the God of War
9. You Are a Beam of Light
10. Just Shy of Sure

The Beths Tour Dates:
Sun. Nov 8 – Perth, WA @ HBF Park*
Wed. Nov. 11 – Melbourne, VIC @ Marvel Stadium*
Sat. Nov. 14 – Sydney, NSW @ Bankwest Stadium*
Tue. Nov. 17 – Brisbane, QLD @ QSAC Stadium*
Fri. Nov. 20 – Dunedin, NZ @ Forsyth Barr Stadium*
Sun. Nov. 22 – Auckland, NZ @ Mt Smart Stadium*

*w/ Green Day, Weezer and Fall Out Boy

Keep your mind open.

[I’m dying to believe you’ll subscribe.]

[Thanks to Pitch Perfect PR!]