the Beatifics

BEATIFICS The Way We Never WereFrom their name to the gooey sumptuousness of their music to the shelf full of references only power-pop nerds would know, the Beatifics hold dear the tuneful triumphs of mid-60s celestial songwriting with an equal dose of indie quirkiness. While the overwhelming Eric Carmen-like croon of Different Stars and the anthemic tendencies of Sorry Yesterdays make it tempting to label these pudding-haired practitioners of neo-Merseybeat a modern-day equivalent of the Raspberries, there's also a playful pranksterism at work here that recalls Teenage Fanclub or the Olivia Tremor Control at its most Beatlesque. Like Velvet Crush, the Beatifics are perfectly comfortable with chiming, mid-tempo rockers that reach for the stars with soaring melodic precision. It's equal parts Byrds, Beatles and Beach Boys but not devoid of late-70s Brit new-wave influences like the Soft Boys, XTC, Elvis Costello and Squeeze, either. In this sense, the Beatifics aren't that far from the Figgs but with fewer pointy-toed tendencies. The inevitable Big Star and Cheap Trick comparisons arise on the brilliant Between The Lines, which, with its buoyant bridge--the Beatifics' specialty--recalls the heyday of early-70s AM radio (which was the last time commercial radio was listenable). Think Todd Rundgren, Badfinger, 10cc. And then think about nominating The Way We Never Were album of the year. (All votes for the Pattern considered, of course.) --Joe S. Harrington/MAGNET"Combining stunning lyrical imagery and huge guitar based melody, The Beatifics are an essential band if your passion is great songwriting ... The band's first release HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING (No Alternative/Twin Tone), was received to nearly universal critical acclaim. Their new CD THE WAY WE NEVER WERE ... is a melodic tour-de-force and is destined to make numerous Top Ten lists for 2002." --Fufkin.com"the latest of a grand tradition of sunny-on-the-outside, melancholy-on-the-inside shoulda-been hits."--High Bias"Some indie albums from last year have earned sleeper staus ... Sweet, with a Mellotron straining to be heard above Danelectro guitars, it could've been Chris Bell's second solo album."--MOJO"To the list of Badfinger, Dwight Twilley, Big Star, Raspberries, Matthew Sweet, Teenage Fanclub and the Posies, a new name can be inscibed in gold: the Beatifics."--CMJ"Let the gushing begin ... sheer pop perfection."--Goldmine