
Beware! Beware! – Secrets of the Sea
Space rock may feel somewhat dated to listeners nowadays. And, anyway, those making music that seemed to soundtrack the feeling of floating through the stars usually refuted these kinds of accusations instead opting to embrace terms like prog rock, or smart people music.
However, not enough music has been made as to the accompaniment to the slow plummeting to the depths of the sea. The pacing is different from space travel, but were you to find yourself in such a predicament. The outcome will likely be the same. You’d also get to visually experience different trippy images before, in both cases, everything would dissolve into endless darkness.
Beware! Beware! make that kind of music. They write and perform it with the commitment of a musical group that has just been commissioned to write a soundtrack to a computer game about divers seeking out Cthulhu himself.
Musically this is an intriguing piece, a slow guitar number that feels like you’re slipping into quicksand—worth starting a new trend around.
Bad Tide – Girl Problems
The original punk bands, and especially those of the horror variety, have always had a particular fondness for 50s music, reverb, Spector’s wall of sound, and the sweet, yet menacing sound characteristic of that decade.
Perhaps, it’s nostalgia at play, or perhaps it’s the fact that the straight-laced living that was, supposedly, also a trait of the time, always seemed to hide something more sinister behind the monotony. The Misfits reflected this through memorable, campy songs, and Bad Tide takes a similar approach here.
Apart from the artwork, a lot about the sounds and words found on Girl Problems reminded me of horror punk. The guitar sounds are crisp and grande. The melodies are sweet, the lyrics are a cute, tongue-in-cheek take on 50s boy meets girl songs—very convincing stuff. Bad Tide should go far.