Cheap Beat

For every great song by the Cure, there was one bad song; for every killer album, there was a clunker. I don't know how a band with such a legacy was able to maintain such a rocky creative development. Bizarre.

I bring this up only because the first band I was reminded of when I first put Cheap Beat (MySpace) was ... the Cure! Lucky for them, their only release so far is an immaculate eponymous EP with only four songs on it. The singer has this sort of tortured-soul wail to his style, but it's poppy and accessible enough that you actually end up empathizing with him more than you would were he say, the XTC offspring from the Veils. Instrumentally, these Stockholm lads sound like the merging of the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen. Yes, they are wonderful. I'm getting chills writing this post. This is a first. I really, really love these guys.

Wow wow wow. Spot-on verse-chorus-verse structuring to these tunes, dazzling, knock-your-socks-off "rave-ups," summery hooks and solid bass lines that are mingled with just enough darker, clean production to make every note absolutely serious, absolutely, undeniable heartfelt.

You can grab the whole EP right here, but how about listening to a couple of the songs before downloading all four below. Did I hype it up too much? Nope: these dudes rock rock rock.


Cheap Beat - Club Cheap Beat

Cheap Beat - Weekend