SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - BAD SON 2021

Shapeshifting. If there’s one descriptor for Philadelphia rockers Spirit of the Beehive, that’s it, so we figured we’d get it out of the way early. Transformation surrounds their fourth album and Saddle Creek debut ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH, affecting the band itself—founding members Zack Schwartz and Rivka Ravede are now joined by Corey Wichlin—as well as their recording process and, of course, the music itself. While the band recorded their breakout 2018 album Hypnic Jerks in only a week, they took four months for ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH, self-recording and producing their most adventurous album yet. Just take “I SUCK THE DEVIL’S COCK,” the record’s near-seven-minute third single, which they describe as “our take on ‘a day in the life’”: The song begins as glitchy, drum machine-spiked jangle-psych, but quickly devolves into borderline ambient noise, eventually reconstituting itself as dreamy indie-pop with the oddest refracted textures. It, like all of ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH, is thrillingly unpredictable from moment to moment, and a mind-expanding exploration of the innumerable forms rock music can take. —Scott Russell

SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN'T DO [Official Music Video]

One of the more brilliant records I’ve heard so far this year. A bunch of yer favorite indie or pop structures abstracted behind a haze of noise and general unpredictability. Getting too attached to any particular riff or (apparent) chorus line, no matter how gripping, would be a mistake if not for the arrival of another just around the corner. The more you listen, the more it all opens up and makes some sort of sense. Plays like an odd carnival ride, and so the cover fits. Entertainment, Death (2021) Spirit of the Beehive