BEEP – City Of The Future Album Review

The San Francisco trio, BEEP, is equal parts experimental electronica, free jazz, and jam band — a delectable mishmashing, ragbagging, hodgepodging mingle-mangle of sounds. The band’s latest record, City Of The Future, will tickle the sensibilities of easily distracted individuals, while driving fans of the orderly to the brink of insanity.

“Golden Chinese Amulet” kicks off the album, giving listeners just a small sampling of the percussive elements to be found on the disc. What sound like damp sleigh bells and cracking metallic whips are present in just the first half of the track, the other half buried deep in different variations of gongs. Everyday objects make appearances on other tracks; alarm clocks seem to be losing battery life on “Today Is Your Birthday” and toasters seem to be popping out bread on “Labryinth Snacks.” On “Wolf Pantolones,” which invites vocal assistance from the ever-wonderful Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, BEEP really goes all out, crafting an intense and insane terrain of rhythmic beauty that is quite unpredictable.

Listen to “Wolf Pantolones” – DOWNLOAD MP3

Someone once said to me that the most interesting part about listening to a Deerhoof record is hearing what arrays of sounds the band comes up with, and that is the way I feel about BEEP; I don’t believe I would listen to them with any huge regularity, but the spectrum of musical sound the band explores is impressive, and intriguing.

Written by
Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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Caleb Henning
Caleb Henning
12 years ago

I was visiting my family in sanfran and decided to go to a show.. beep was playing… they we’re so good.. maybe it was cause they had really bad openers… no….. they we’re really good.. i’d love to them again but i live in colorado.. creativity is hard to find in music these days

Written by Vee Hua 華婷婷
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