News

Beginners Release Video From New EP

• 27th Mar 2014

Neon Gold premiered the video for ‘Who Knows’ from Beginners self-titled EP which is available now on iTunes and Spotify. Neon Gold said the track is, “chock full of the kind of radio-ready alt pop that the California goldmine’s become known for in recent years, BEGINNERS is overflowing with warm genial synths and rousing filtered vocals that stir up feelings of greener grass and escapist yearnings.”

Last month Filter premiered the MP3 of ‘Who Knows’ and stated, “The single offers us a catchy, pop melody with universally relatable lyrics. Samantha Barbera’s alluring voice shines alongside the electronic beats and the wind-like echoes will have you singing, humming and whistling with them.” The entire BEGINNERS EP is streaming in full at My Old Kentucky Blog who raved, “You will hear vocal intonations similar to the likes ofSantigold and musical construction that could fit quite well next to Phantogram. There are no filler tracks on this release and, with that being said, you get the impression that this duo are still just scratching surface of their potential with even better material to come.”

Beginners was born in Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theater, where after years apart, Samantha Barbera and Nick Ruth reunited to support their former Malbec drummer in Foster the People. It was that night that Barbera, songwriter and singer/bassist in hardcore punk band Holy Fever, and Ruth who had been producing artists, including Mikky Ekko and Active Child, became inspired to work together again.

What started as a bedroom writing experiment, developed into BEGINNERS by the end of the first night. “Within an hour of writing, we knew we were onto something,” Barbera explains. “In just a few months, we ended up writing, recording and mixing an entire record. All in Nick’s house.”

Beginners delivers well-crafted elements of garage rock with dark electronic pop hooks that fans of Santigold, Cults, Phantogram, Tegan and Sara and Chromaticswill be sure to appreciate. Barbera’s attitude-tinged vocals carry the intensity and passion of an artist like Karen O, while Ruth’s production captures a moody landscape fit for Depeche Mode’s ‘Violator’.

The Beginners EP is mesmerizing and far from predictable. The gigantic hooks of ‘Who Knows’ give way to uncomfortably honest lyricism in ‘Let Go or Get Dragged’ leaving you dancing your way through a movie you shouldn’t be allowed to watch, but can’t look away from. Swampy, bluesy verses on ‘So Close I Almost Believed It’ unexpectedly combine with a power ballad chorus straight out of an 80s John Hughes movie, before descending into an extended outro that could make Johnny Marr blush. And lest one think she has forsaken her roots, Barbera proves otherwise when the raw garage riffs of ‘Ever Love’ come alive onstage, where she is backed by Holy Fever bandmate, Neeraj Kane (The Hope Conspiracy), and drummer, Jason Walker (The Gamits).