One thing to get straight right out of the gate: there should be nocorellation drawn between the title of Beulah's new record — the nameof the woman accused of breaking up the Beatles — and the fact thatseveral of the members went through divorces before and possibly evenduring its recording. Nor should it be considered a tell-tale sign thatthe end may be near for one of the few Elephant 6 bands left. In fact,it may have no relation to the music inside at all, which is without adoubt the finest batch of songs the band has ever unleashed. Beulah'snot gone "more mature" or "grown up" but just less free-form, sloppy,and damned indie rock. Gone are the post-mod singalong choruses andblaring horns, but still here are the wall of sound arrangements andvocal harmonies. Miles Kurosky is just as skeptical as ever, only nowhis fears are genuine, not goofily ironic. "A Man Like Me" is thisrecord's "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" in that it's a confidentbeginning with otherworldly touches about the end of the connectionbetween two people. The notch gets turned up on the next track,"Landslide Baby," which Kurosky says is the woman's answer to the firsttrack. It's poppy, quirky even, but it calls out the man for what heis. "You're Only King Once" (Y O K O... hmmm...) continues the soberJarvis Cocker-like self-examination, as though finally reality has setin. There are bills to be paid, mouths to feed, houses to own, andlegacies to think about. Almost a country tinge enters every now andthen, just to give that extra heartache, and lines like "I just wantyou happy" and "I never meant to clip your pretty wings" let you knowit's not for show. The confidence returns every once in a while in themusic, but still gets eclipsed by the gravity of the subject matter.This is a record about losing what you care about most, and realizingit's because if you really cared about it the most you would have shownit more care. Maybe there is a hidden meaning in that title after all.samples:
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