Clipd Beaks
BY RYAN MARKMANN
Clipd Beaks have at least two things in common with Prince. They both originally hail from Minneapolis and the Beaks’ sound evokes the synth-happy confusion of Purple Rain’s inventive “Computer Blue” and “Darling Nikki.”
That’s about as far as the comparisons go.
On their six-song EP, Preyers, Scott Ecklein, Ray Benjamin, Nic Barbeln, and Greg Pritchard chronicle the mindsets of five young men coping with the realities of life under George Bush’s rule.
A unique concept for a post-punk band with psychedelic inclinations? Maybe. But with song titles such as “Nuclear Arab,” “We Will Bomb You (we will),” and the marathon “Messed-up Desert,” the political pieces aren’t too hard to put together.
As part of a U.S. tour that will extend into the summer – when Hoarse Lords, their first full-length album, is released on Tigerbeat6 – Clipd Beaks made an extended pit stop in Austin for SXSW with a showcase at the Beauty Bar, along with the beat-friendly Kid606 and White Williams.
After a few dates in Arkansas and Louisiana, the Beaks return to South Texas on Sunday with the like-minded company of Church of The Snake to work a venue called The Mattress Factory. New to the Alamo City, The Mattress Factory, funny enough, used to be, well, a mattress factory.
Ultimately, Prince might not be the best royal analogy for the Beaks, as Barbeln would rather you compare them to another prince, Prince Be of early ‘90s R&B/hip-hop phenom P.M. Dawn. While Dawn’s hit “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” may parallel the Beak’s “Smoke Me When I’m Gone” in sentiment, Barbeln makes it clear that the connection is more than tongue-in-cheek irony, when he proclaims: “Clipd Beaks are the P.M. Dawn of noise-rock.”
(Originally published in the San Antonio Current on March 21, 2007)
Clipd Beaks have at least two things in common with Prince. They both originally hail from Minneapolis and the Beaks’ sound evokes the synth-happy confusion of Purple Rain’s inventive “Computer Blue” and “Darling Nikki.”
That’s about as far as the comparisons go.
On their six-song EP, Preyers, Scott Ecklein, Ray Benjamin, Nic Barbeln, and Greg Pritchard chronicle the mindsets of five young men coping with the realities of life under George Bush’s rule.
A unique concept for a post-punk band with psychedelic inclinations? Maybe. But with song titles such as “Nuclear Arab,” “We Will Bomb You (we will),” and the marathon “Messed-up Desert,” the political pieces aren’t too hard to put together.
As part of a U.S. tour that will extend into the summer – when Hoarse Lords, their first full-length album, is released on Tigerbeat6 – Clipd Beaks made an extended pit stop in Austin for SXSW with a showcase at the Beauty Bar, along with the beat-friendly Kid606 and White Williams.
After a few dates in Arkansas and Louisiana, the Beaks return to South Texas on Sunday with the like-minded company of Church of The Snake to work a venue called The Mattress Factory. New to the Alamo City, The Mattress Factory, funny enough, used to be, well, a mattress factory.
Ultimately, Prince might not be the best royal analogy for the Beaks, as Barbeln would rather you compare them to another prince, Prince Be of early ‘90s R&B/hip-hop phenom P.M. Dawn. While Dawn’s hit “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss” may parallel the Beak’s “Smoke Me When I’m Gone” in sentiment, Barbeln makes it clear that the connection is more than tongue-in-cheek irony, when he proclaims: “Clipd Beaks are the P.M. Dawn of noise-rock.”
(Originally published in the San Antonio Current on March 21, 2007)
posted by Ryan Markmann at
8:24 AM
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