The Beths - Expert in A Dying Field

 The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field       

Label: Carpark

After two fantastic Indie Rock records I was simultaneously excited to get my copy (early from pre-order) of the new one by my new favourite band and terrified that I wouldn't like it as much as the first, judging it harshly against hype and the previous two.

Jump Rope Gazers and Future Me Hates Me have been on constant rotation here since I heard them. One great track after another (even though I SWEAR my copy of JRG is warped at the end of each side. But Beth's voice doesn't sound wavery like the instruments so...damn you, interesting production!) has had me extolling this band like a crazed fanboy. 

Did I try to go see them an hour away the day after I came back from an East Coast work trip? Yes. Did I fall asleep way before the concert so there was no way I would make it? Also, yes. Did I purchase tickets to their upcoming spring show? Hell yes. 

Fanboy. 

And then I heard Expert's singles. And I was absolutely sure I would love this one, too. And I did. Not right away. That's because I had to do the weighing of this record against the previous two, which played like discoveries, having zero build up. And then, on listen 3, I got it. I was able to let it stand on it's own instead of in the shadow of those two terrific records. It's another in a series of gems by Beth Stokes and her merry band of New Zealanders. 

The very concept of a relationship having come to an end and the participants being "experts" on each other and matching that to the coldness of said relationship being a "field" that is "dying" is brilliant. It's poetry the likes of which we rarely get in music these days. Sure we get the forlorn. We get the brokenhearted. But we don't get the kind of wordplay that calls to mind a field where romance could blossom also being a workplace where you have overstayed your time. 

It calls to mind the dual uses of the word "Whatever" in that song from the debut and makes me hate my own writing. But that's okay. I've always hated my own writing. 

And I can always sing along to Beth. 

Grade: A

Packaging Grade: A

    The gatefold is packed with Polaroid photos of the band in various stages of work on the record. The lyrics are printed on the other side of a giant poster of that...fish. And my copy is the early order Spring Green from Carpark and it's lovely. 

A Side: Expert in a Dying Field, Knees Deep, Silence is Golden, 2AM

Blind Sides: Best Left, The Passing Rain, I Told You That I Was Afraid