Beezewax - South of Boredom

  by Geraint Jones

published: 4 / 6 / 2002

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With their name inspired by an apparently oft-used phrase uttered by The Muppets’ Miss Piggy – “That’s none of your Beeswax” – you could be forgiven for expecting Beezewax’s music to reflect that show’s anarchic irreverence. Forget any preconceptions though straightaway, Beezewax are quite evidently serious artistes, although in fairness they’re not totally lacking a sense of humour. But more of that later. Hailing from Moss, a small town in Norway, Beezewax have been together since the mid ‘90s. ‘South Of Boredom’ their second album, originally released in the US in 1999, gets its it’s first UK release here just ahead of the release of their new album ‘Oh Tahoe’ which is due out imminently on Firefly Recordings. With the Posies’ Ken Stringfellow in the producer’s chair and guesting on both backing vocals and guitar, it’s not too difficult to detect the influence the Posies have had on Beezewax’s sound. The arrangements that seem to emphasise the space as much as the instrumentation, the soaring harmonies and the swathes of cascading, mournful minor chords could all be Posies attributes. The collection of angst-fuelled pocketsize pop anthems that , however, comprise ‘South Of Boredom’ prove Beezewax are more than mere copyists. Overall, perhaps the album is a tad too restrained for the most part and when closing track ‘That’s Not Here’ sees the band really letting go, you find yourself wishing they‘d maybe done it a bit sooner. Nevertheless ‘South Of Boredom’ is a good album with plenty of passion and edgy pop sensibility. After the adrenaline surge of the final track, the album ends in an unexpected fashion, which should raise a few smiles. Can that really be the angelically voiced Mr. Stringfellow sounding so vexed in the studio?

Track Listing:-

1 Play It Safe
2 Dying To Hit That Note
3 In The Stands
4 Two Holes Apart
5 The Counterfeit
6 Dead End Kids
7 And Its About You
8 God Knows Where You Are
9 Defined Failure
10 In A Run
11 That’s Not Here

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