New Zealanders have long had a way with indie-pop. Since the days of Flying Nun Records and bands like Straitjacket Fits, the islands at the end of the earth have had a nice way of shining, never too seriously, but also not dripping with Anglophone irony. Auckland’s The Beths deliver sweet garage-pop on their sophomore full-length, Jump Rope Glazers.
Like their 2018 debut Future Me Hates Me, Gazers has that fuzzy garage-pop that was never quite in or out of style in The States, always welcome, but never dominating. There’s the speedy side of it in the great opener “I’m Not Getting Excited” and “Mars, the God of War”, but also sweet harmonies on such tracks as “Dying to Believe”, “Jump Rope Gazers”, and closer “Just Shy of Sure”.
While maybe not a revelation to seasoned ears, The Beths’ Jump Rope Gazers has a sheer enjoyability, even pure niceness, that will win anyone over.
