The Cow's Wrong

The Beta Band released 3 e.p.s in 1997 and 1998 that sent lots of people into a spin. They were then anthologised as The 3 E.P.s and turned up in High Fidelity (and have just been remastered and re-released on vinyl if you've got £50 to spare). Then in 1999 they put out their debut album, a record the band themselves said it was 'fucking awful' and Steve Mason claimed it was 'probably one of the worst records that'll come out this year'. They said they'd been rushed, not been given enough money, not finished the songs, not been allowed to put out an ambient disc as a companion and that the production was poor. And you can imagine how that went down with the record company.

Twenty years later it's difficult not to feel like the 3 e.p.s  were the peak and that the debut album was a bit of a mess (and they followed it with 2 further albums both of which were much better). But it's also true that not all of The Beta Band is without merit and some of the songs are very good. Listening to it now it is also abundantly clear- and it was at the time I think- that they were doing something new, creating a new psychedelia for the late 90s which was not just a rehash or revivalist version of a 60s psychedelia. The loose structures, the mix of acoustic and electronic instruments and textures, hip hop beats and rapping, the use of dub and delay and repetition, layered vocals, the longer jam sections and stoner parts and the stuff that is chucked in from the wilder corners of their imaginations (barber shop quartets, marching bands), the sheer love of sounds- this is not a disaster, not 'fucking awful' and not the worst record of 1999 (that year saw the release of Californication and Stereophonics' Performance And Cocktails not to mention a Kid Rock lp. There's 3 for starters). There are a few mis-steps on The Beta Band but there are also some gems. Like this one.

The Cow's Wrong