Album Notes

This CD was nominated for a *GRAMMY* in the best alternative album category.
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When you got out of your black 1966 Corvaire on a damp night in the city, there was a flute and light percussion audible somewhere off in the distance. You got the feeling someone was following you, so you ran across the street in your overcoat to an unmarked night club with two colored lights above the door. When you got inside, spooky rhythms reached you across a long smoky room filled with people in dark suits standing still and dancing with their arms only.

The year isn't 1966, it's 2003. And the live band you just happened upon isn't simply an anachronism contributing to your personal time warp or a youthful imitation of a bygone aesthetic. It's THE BEEPS -- a unique seven-piece ensemble which takes the best of the past and brings it forward in a way that can engage a modern audience.

THE BEEPS is a synthesis of the experiences of seven people born in four different countries at roughly the same time. They share among them a common appreciation for international film scores of the 1960's, a perfect jumping-off point with an absolute quality that spans cultural and language barriers and provided THE BEEPS with a common musical story. Since their first show at an art gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the summer of 2000, they have developed the hallmarks of their sound -- a cool organ which serves as the band's thematic groundwork, the subtle interchange between percussion and drums, a scratchy guitar, a plaintive horn that doubles as the band's other voice, matching the ethereal vocals which are put through effects at times, and at times not.

Stylistically, the band is diverse, with influences ranging from ska and klezmer to jazz and garage rock. Add to this lyrics which are dark, cynical, and of course, lovesick ("A sad tale won't go so far/since I've known you").