Beverley** consist of, it says here, singer/guitarist Jimi ‘Danger’ Turner, bassist James ‘Maxwell Demon’ Maxted and drummer Kris Robinson who presumably joined the band too late to get a ‘cool’ nickname. As you might have guessed by their pseudonyms, Beverley aren’t a Christian folk band.
Although they have supported The Futureheads, bookishness is swapped with brutishness with filthy riffs and the kind of three-minute smash and grabs AC/DC would make if they’d formed in Hastings. The band create “a full-on assault with 10ft guitars” apparently (which sounds like a bitch for some poor roadie), and Jimi’s vocals positively reek of hard whiskey and duty-free cigarettes.
The demo’s highlight ‘Jenny 73’ has a big rumbling bass sound and plenty of cymbals thrown in for free. Like King Adora injected with steroids it has just the right mix of false endings and fuzzy confusion. Unfortunately, ‘Sideways’ is the kind of sound you might hear emanating from under any number of garage doors, from bands with a decent pair of lungs and at least five fingers between them.
However, proceedings improve on opener ‘Girl Go-Better’, which feels like a greasy-spoon 21st Century take on ‘Twentieth Century Boy’. Meanwhile, the punkier sound of a throttling ‘Took for a Ride’ has a swimming pool production The Strokes would shoot their daddy’s wads over to get.
Not a band you’d want helping your kids with their homework then, but you can imagine them pouring vodka down your throat and painting the town blood red. Sometimes we all need a little education at the school of rock and Beverley clearly know their stuff.
-
7Matthew Butler's Score