Betty Becky are a bedroom pop/punk trio from Berkeley, California. The band have been busy, recently releasing both a self-titled album (which they say is “fuzzy by accident”) and a follow-up EP (which is “fuzzy on purpose”).
all the boyfriends is the darker, punk-influenced EP. Its fuzz and reverb carry a menacing aggression, a sort of lo-fi threat behind the lyrics which guarantees that every word is meant. ‘telegraph ave.’ opens the release with a perfect example, the twisting, ominous baseline standing on the shoulders of the vocals like some older, meaner sibling just waiting for you to question the lyrics.
“you wanna project emptiness inside of me like
i don’t have the universe inside of me like
i’m not reflecting on these layers of intersubjectivity like
you’re not just looking at me”
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The songs are conversational yet scathing, employing Girlpool-esque dual vocals with a sort of high-school twang, finally letting all those boys know that their attention is rarely wanted, and that they’ll be told on the rare occasion that it is. With that in mind, ‘i’m not fuxing you’ and ‘don’t call me’ are pretty self-explanatory, while ‘all the bfs’ is equally clear in its assertions that males are not required, flipping the traditional gender roles so that woolly, patronising excuses are now pointed firmly in his direction. As if to rub it in, closer ‘short bangs’ serves as remaindered as to what he is missing:
“short bangs
lady gangs
big plaid
hella rad
dyed tips
poppy trips
high waist
resting bitch face
masking tape to fix all of my problems
just enough to fend off boredom”
The self-titled album is a collection of lovably fuzzy indie pop songs which again deal with the constant affront of male vexation, though this time in a reactive way. ‘getting high (i can’t stop)’ deals with problems of motivation and self-esteem, or perhaps lack thereof, the narrator content to idle away time in a chemically-induced haze. ‘static’ has a similar vibe, finding the narrator struggling to free herself from beneath a suffocating lover.
“maybe when i feel like shit
you feel like a man
when i can’t get outta bed
you’re so masculine”
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‘educate yrselves’ is something of a return to all the boyfriends‘ unsparing critique of man’s annoying habits, this time their habit of asking for explanations of even the simplest of things, as though the responsibly for their ignorance lies with those they are offending. Again, the conversational tone works well, a sort-of-sarcastic-but-sort-of-not flow which drives home the ridiculousness of the situation (“you don’t have to be asking us, it’s not even that hard, it’s pretty easy you carry around this like thing in your pocket all day that like tells you everything you need to know via this thing called the internet?”).
The gentle verses of ‘anti social’ deal with anxiety and our lies to cover it, the plethora of make-to-break promises to friends about meeting up and hanging out, while ‘watered down’ charts a relationship more attractive when the couple are apart, the idea of the pairing much more enthralling that the reality. Closer ‘hardly summer’ is the bummed out jam such an album requires, again the underwhelming reality of the situation tearing up whatever hopes or visions the narrator might have held.
“overcast and 50 degrees
you are states away from me
i’m drinking alone watching too much tv
it’s the middle of summer
it’s been cloudy for weeks
nobody’s home & my friends are all busy
i don’t wanna get outta bed anyway
this is hardly summer”
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Betty Becky and All The Boyfriends are out now and you can buy them both on a name-your-price from the Betty Becky Bandcamp page.