Howdy stranger: B is for Beatnik, as in Filmstar
Beatnik Filmstars' Beezer
Introduction provided here.
Beatnik Filmstars' Beezer lives on a shelf inbetween The Beach Boys' Sunflower/Surf's Up and Beat Happening's Jamboree.
It's been, oh, say nine freaking years since I first discovered this quirky little British band via a seven inch released in 1995 titled "Bigot Sponger Haircut Policy". How could I pass up a nugget like that: Beatnik Filmstar's "Bigot Sponger Haircut Policy"? It all sounded deliciously Pavement-esque, and yipee kai yay was I not let down in that department. I remember listening to the A-side of that seven inch over and over and over again on my nifty Technics turntable (passed down to me by my brother), which featured a handy endless repeat function. "Bigot Sponger" the song alternates between hyper-active guitar babble (like the Wedding Present sped up 40 bpm) and a slow, chug-a-chug chorus. Over the top of it all is meandering, wacky lead guitar and singer Andrew Jarrett's dry musings:
Have you ever felt really happy?
I wanna know—what does it feel like?
Will I notice if it happens to me,
if it happens to me overnight?
...Cause I feel so...dead.
I know, it doesn't sound particularly cool, does it? But fuck, was I high on this oddball song, which also appears on Beezer, a collection of the group's early singles and out-takes. I think I was just excited to hear a British band that had obviously taken a few pointers from Slanted and Enchanted. Of course, what I didn't truly realize at the time was that both bands were just jumping on The Fall's bandwagon.
Anyway, Beezer draws almost equally upon the jagged pop sensibilities of Wire, vintage Guided By Voices, elder Boo Radleys and Boyracer as it does The Fall. Still, much of this album does indeed sound like a Pavement parody (even the packaging is remniscent). But, a good song is a good song is a good song. And many of the 23 tracks on this album are just that. As a young band free from any overarching definition of what they hoped to accomplish, Beatnik Filmstars ended up achieving plenty. While this was released domestically in early 1996 on Slumberland, the band would move on to greener pastures with a pair of releases on Merge before calling it quits—I believe—around 1999.
I still have the "Bigot Sponger Haircut Policy" seven inch, so I suppose I could part with this full-length. But seriously folks, what's the eBay market value for this? Five bucks? I think I'll hold onto this one for awhile longer, even though I don't really find myself in the mood to listen to dysfunctional indie rock drenched in white noise all that often anymore. Who knows...maybe in five years I'll find myself coming full circle, and damn will I be glad I held onto Beatnik Filmstars then.
you should burn me a copy o dat g
By 
Jonathan Wright, at 1:01 AM
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By thenoiseboy, at 8:12 AM
1:01 AMyou should burn me a copy o dat g
8:12 AM
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