EELS

Being Dead knows how to make an entrance, within the first several seconds of EELS, the duo’s new record, the bright, hard-strummed guitar line on “Godzilla Rises” conjures cinematic immediacy, a creature emerging from the depths of the ocean in campy, freaky stop motion, fittingly so. Being Dead’s records are mosaics, technicolor incantations, each song its own self-contained little universe. And while the dreamlike EELS probes further into the depths of the duo Being Dead’s psyche, it is, most importantly, in the year of our lord 2024, a 16-track record that is genuinely unpredictable from one track to the next: a joyous and unexpected trip helmed by two true-blue freak bitch besties holed up in a lil’ house in the heart of Austin, Texas.

They decamped to Los Angeles for two weeks to record with GRAMMY-winning producer John Congleton, writing songs for the record until days before they left. Being Dead has grown from a duo to a trio live, including bassist Ricky Motto. The resulting EELS is a darker record, tapped more into the devilishness within, but it’s also a more raucous, rougher ride sonically. There’s heartbreak, excitement, enchantment, dancing we move through it all at a high-octane pace. Falcon Bitch and Smoofy never want to do the same thing twice on any song, and they don’t. From the pummeling garage rock distortion of “Firefighters” to “Dragons II,” which appears in its demo form taped on a hand recorder, it’s unexpected but intuitive, and, most importantly, singularly Being Dead.

Released: September 2024
Cat: BR063LPC1   
Label: Bayonet Records

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Tracklist

1. Godzilla Rises
2. Van Goes
3. Blanket of my Bone
4. Problems
5. Firefighters
6. Dragons II
7. Nightvison
8. Gazing at Footwear
9. Big Bovine
10. Storybook Bay
11. Ballerina
12. Rock n' Roll Hurts
13. Love Machine
14. I Was a Tunnel
15. Goodnight
16. Lilypad Lane