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Reviews of "Heads smashed in by the boy/girl thing"
Press Release

Dashboard Confessional may have ruined most respectability in the acoustic / singer-songwriter field, however there is still the occasional emergence of a stripped back act that proves the genre is not completely dead just yet. With emphasis on respectable melodies and fragile song structure, Betika are one such band. 'Heads Smashed In By The Boy/Girl Thing' may sound like the title to an emo-pop record, however there's absolutely none of that oft-annoying emo whine to be found here at all. Instead on this re-release (with the two bonus tracks 'Which Way Will I Go' and 'Hunting With Dogs') you'll hear the perfectly complimenting vocals of Dave Purse and Carolyn Evans, who with this gorgeous male-female combination, relay responsibility vocally. The best, and most enjoyable, tracks on 'Heads Smashed In By The Boy/Girl Thing' come when both vocalists perform together, peaking with the faultless 'The Bierdigan' which sounds like it could have been taken from a classic love-based black and white movie, such is the elegant nature. Musically, Betika are gentle and warm, however without the use of percussion, do prove a difficult listen for those who need some driving force behind their tunes. Intricate acoustic guitars provide melodies that often contrast with those of the vocals, and other than the occasional blemish, work in a manner that is overlooked by most musicians and music fans these days. Such other instruments as the glockenspiel, and oboe provide more texture on such tracks as opener 'I've Been In An Accident' and even going so far as to create a somewhat soundscapist atmosphere on 'Summers Of Solemnity'. Betika will require a great deal of patience to listen to, however once immersed the listener will be rewarded with some timeless tunes that will no doubt be ringing long after the closing notes of this 33 minute effort ends. Obviously not for everybody, however fans of Nick Drake's work and even the gorgeous pop of Belle And Sebastian should definitely give Betika some serious attention. Another fantastic and severely underrated release from the Superglider Records stable. Rating: 8 out of 10. Reviewed by steeeve
www.noisetheory.net

Betika - Heads Smashed In By the Boy/Girl Thing (Superglider) A musical collective, they call themselves-and why not. Betika's led by a feller named Dave Purse, he's got a slew of folks helping him out, and Heads Smashed In By the Boy/Girl Thing is one of those brief little records with quietly sprightly little songs that call to mind everything from very early (like early eighties) Pulp to stuff on Sarah Records that wasn't the Field Mice to acoustic Gorky's Zygotic Mynci to, perhaps inevitably, B***e and S*******n (though thankfully not really much of that, otherwise I'd puke). That there's things like recorder and glockenspiel on the songs may be twee in some eyes but the arrangements are enjoyable and Purse has got a breezy but hurt way around his singing that suits the predominantly acoustic arrangements well. Carolyn Evans makes for a fair enough vocalist in turn, as can be heard nicely on "The Bierdigan" and "Dance and Scream." "I've Been In an Accident" is the mighty fine starter, "One Day My House Will Be Flooded" and "Summers of Solemnity" also do the trick. This particular version is a re-release with two fine new songs, "Which Way Will I Go" and "Hunting With Dogs." ned raggett 2003 jun 6
www.Fakejazz.com

How can anybody not like Betika's Head Smashed In By The Boy/Girl Thing? A whole eight songs of delicate, beautiful acoustic pop never hurt anyone, and it would be futile to deny yourself the pleasure of the terrifically-written pop contained on this disc. Starting with a Belle and Sebastian influenced mellow pop number, "I've Been in an Accident," this album shifts into relaxation mode and never quits. Gems like "One Day My House Will Be Flooded" and "Dance And Scream" are plentiful; the former in this case is a dreamily sparse pop tune, the latter a Nick Drake-tinged folk-pop number. Two of the eight songs on this disc are previously unavailable "bonus tracks," but instead of being unnecessary and monotonous like extra tracks usually are, they actually add something to Head Smashed In... "Which Way Will I Go," for example, is a cheery pop number with a less acoustic sound than the rest of the album, and "Hunting With Dogs," which finishes the CD off, is an adorable pop number somewhere in the vein of Mojave 3. Overall, this is a fantastic album that can be enjoyed by anyone. If you like mellow, delicate dream pop, then Betika's Head Smashed In By The Boy/Girl Thing could become your new favourite album. 88% Matt Shimmer
www.indieville.com

Betika is een band die op de CD Heads Smashed In By The Boy/Girl Thing terug lijkt te grijpen op Britse indie uit midden jaren '80. Bands die je kon vinden op labels als Rough Trade en Cherry Red. Bands als Marine Girls en Everything But The Girl. Gewoon rustige luisterpop met mooie melodieen en goede samenzang. Heads Smashed was al eerder uitgebracht als een EP met zes nummers, maar voor deze release is die uitgebreid met twee nieuwe nummers. Zoals al blijkt uit de andere releases van het Superglider label is ook dit album wel de moeite waard. Niet wereldschokkend, maar zeker lekker. Stephan Schipper 12 april 2003
www.thinksmall.nl

"Cantami qualcosa di nuovo, qualcosa di sorprendente"... Questo l'incipit del vocione à la Tindersticks del cantante dei Betika, che ci introduce ad un disco come purtroppo se ne fanno sempre meno. Pop d'autore ma leggero, vagamente reminescente di Belle & Sebastian o dei Ballboy. Gli arrangiamenti con le due voci, maschile e femminile, si appoggiano su di un sofisticato quanto minimale tappeto di tastiere, chitarre acustiche lievemente pennate, elettriche arpeggianti, poche percussioni. A tratti ricordano i nostri Perturbazione se Elena cantasse di più da voce quasi solista. Le armonie quasi sixties di canzoni quali Release fanno pensare a certi Ladybug Transistor, gruppo che personalmente considero il riferimento per certe sonorità. Non resta che, anche per loro, vedere come e dove andranno a finire.
www.sodapop.it

Quella dolce "cosa boy/girl"... di Carlo "Cruel" Crudele Eh, sì: le heads si smashano parecchio nella cosa boy/girl. E' un classico, un'ispirazione sin dalla notte dei tempi per i cantautori di ogni dove, ed è bello sapere che, ancora oggi, per qualcuno lo smash ha un sapore dolce e rilassato. I Betika (il cui nucleo fondamentale è formato dal boy, Dave Purse, e dalla rispettiva girl, Carolyn Evans, allieva di chitarra del boy che ha deciso in seguito di sostenere la sua causa) rinnegano ogni tipo di sostrato carnale che possa evidenziarsi nella cosa boy/thing (sostrati che pure ci sono in abbondanza, e Iddio li benedica) e preferiscono adagiarsi su un amore prettamente twee, tutto fatto di chitarrine dolci e qualche glockenspiel d'atmosfera, con quella doppia voce (boy/girl, manco a dirlo) che esalta la dolcezza melliflua (ma mai melensa, per fortuna) di questi otto brani. Da dove vogliamo partire, per la faccenda delle fonti? Tanto c'è ben da scegliere: gli Smiths, i primi Belle And Sebastian, un pizzico di Simon & Garfunkel, tutto il tweepop dai Club 8 ai Sea Urchins. Insomma, non è che con questa release la britannica Superglider abbia ecceduto in originalità. Ma la personalità, quella pare esserci: e pure se il lavoro è abbastanza limitato per azzardare giudizi definitivi, pare che i quattro Betika (accanto a boy e girl ci sono Steve Christie e Chris Reed) abbiano buone idee. Quel che è certo è che ce le offrono con un arrangiamento gentile e malinconico che ci spreme un po' il cuore, un tappeto di foglie d'autunno di quelli adatti agli amori estivi nati sulla spiaggia e sulla spiaggia sepolti. I brani migliori sono Release e The Bierdigan, e c'è una ghost track semplice semplice che, con i suoi tempi un po' più andanti, dopo tanto struggimento si fa ben ascoltare: se questo vi basta, fate un salto in casa Superglider. Altrimenti, usate calma e gesso e date tempo ai Betika di fare il salto di qualità. Proprio come noi.
www.musicboom.it

Six minimalistic acoustic versions that expose the warmth and cleverness of the beautifully glowing simple song writing - Guitars, glockenspiel, oboe, melodica, recorder, all recorded in an isolated cottage in the New Forest. Their previous debut album (on Earhurtlling) was apparently influenced (so it says here on this handy piece of paper) by the many different styles songwriter Dave Purse encountered during a particularly debauched summer; alt-rock guitar textures plundered from a girlfriend's record collection; beats from clubs in Bournemouth, parties in Camberwell and samples from charity shop bargain box LPs. It seems their forthcoming album for Superglider will showcase a broader more eclectic range of post rock soundscapes, techno and outright experimentation. Meanwhile here the radiant sublime heart wrenching melancholic simplicity of the boy/girl vocals of Dave and Carolyn Evans and their restrained crafted minimal band glow with radiant beauty.... Superglider are a label who you can trust to deliver, they've done it yet again, this is a delight. Excellent artwork, check it out, we fell for it, how did that get wet?
The Organ
www.organart.demon.co.uk

Betika est un quatuor anglais qui joue, hmm, de la pop anglaise relativement classique et conventionnelle, héritière sans doute des Harvest Ministers, Orange Juice, The Bats, The Go-Betweens, Speed The Plough, ou même plus loin des Smiths, ce genre de choses, d'une autre génération. Dans le meilleur des mondes, Betika serait danois, australien ou suédois et profiterait d'un petit effet exotique. Dans le meilleur des mondes, Betika serait américain et se ferait produire par Christopher Walla, le guitariste de Death Cab for Cutie. Mais le meilleur des mondes n'existe pas et l'on imagine que Betika doit en Angleterre se contenter des miettes de pain laissées à ceux que le hype NME n'homologue jamais. C'est que Betika a un côté un peu trop rustique pour espérer suivre Belle & Sebastian sous le feu de la rampe et préfère vivre dans son petit paradis idyllique que certains trouveront utopique et d'autres férocement attachant et féérique. Betika s'est formé en 1999 sous l'impulsion de Dave Purse (chant, guitares), principal songwriter, bientôt rejoint par Carolin Evans (chant, woodwind), Steve Christie (orgue) et Chris Reed. Le groupe se lança rapidement dans l'enregistrement d'un album à forte richesse instrumentale. Ceux-ci atterrirent chez Matt Shaw (alias Tex La Homa ) qui leur proposa de tourner avec lui et les introduisit auprès du label Superglider. Cet ep, 'Heads smashed in by the boy/girl thing', reprend certaines de ces chansons réenregistrées avec une production plus légère, plus acoustique, même si guitares, glockenspiel, oboe ou melodica font bon ménage. On ne peut pas vraiment parler de révélation mais les chansons présentes ici sont réellement prenantes et plaisantes. 'I've been in an accident' est un petit bonheur hors du temps, joli sommet du ep pour lequel Betika a même tourné un clip. Jolie mélodie gracieuse au mélange de voix masculine et féminine, mélancolie généreuse et opulante, pelouses vertes gorgées de rosée en matinée, traversée de quartiers en bicyclette sous un soleil hésitant. Sûr, on a été maintes fois beaucoup plus près de la perte d'équilibre, mais à rouler ici on se remplit cependant les poumons d'un air frais qui ne connaît pas la pollution. 'the bierdigan' est tout autant magnifique, comme de marcher rapidement sur une bordure fine et légèrement surélevée. Quelque chose de légèrement enfantin à la réelle bienfaisance, comme échappée d'un autre temps. Betika c'est comme soudainement un petit sentier qui se dessine entre deux buissons de haie et nous entraîne dans un jardin richement et précautionneusement arrangé, aux jolis massifs en fleurs dont les parfums nous transpercent de leurs effluves. 'release' est quelque peu moins percutant, finalement pas si loin que ça des débuts de The Beautiful South. Je reste donc ici quelque peu méfiant. Sorte de joli massif de roses roses presque écœurantes. Sur 'one day my house will be flooded', Betika se retrouve déshabillé au maximum, quasiment une guitare et deux chants puis un xylophone, qui s'entrecroisement, un striptease qui laisse voir pourtant un corps aux formes encore douces et bien généreuses. De même, 'dance and scream' semble hors du temps, un journaliste américain parlait à leur propos de madrigaux et, ici, c'est vrai qu'on en est pas loin du tout tant la poésie est dense et colorée. Et le ep de se terminer avec le bien nommé 'summers of solemnity' qui résume bien la démarche pop de Betika, estivale et solennelle. Bon ep, belle écriture et charme certain. Didier
www.soitditenpassant.com

When I was sixteen my brother used to listen to bands such as Pastels,Yeah Yeah Noh, Shop Assistants, Soup Dragons and there was an interesting compilation released by Cherry Red titled "Pillow And Prayers" which gathered bands like: Marine Girls (the first Tracey Thorn's band), Ben Watt (who at the same time teamed with Tracey to form Everything But The Girl), The Nightingales, etc. At that time there were labels like Subway or Creation that were exploring the ground of indie pop or pop wave. It seemed that new wave was dismissing his punk origins just to explore the pop fields, bringing his dark and intimistic vein to new sounds. The acoustic songs of Betika bring me back to those sounds being kinda sad and warm at the same time. At first the band sound included alternative rock textures, samples and other stuff, but due the difficulty of bringing all this on their live shows, they opted for a minimal approach and stripped the music down to a bare skeleton. After the debut as a duo, Dave Purse and Carolyn Evans, met on their path Chris Reed who shortly decided to join the band and Matt Shaw of Tex La Homa. With this line up they recorded the tracks of HEADS SMASHED IN BY THE BOY/GIRL THING, record that saw the light on 2001. Superglider decided to reissue it adding two new songs "Which Way Will I Go" and "Hunting With Dogs". For those of you that already own the six tracks MLP these songs are available to download from the labels website as mp3 files. For those of you who'd like to get the reissue, you won't wait that long, because it will be released at the end of April.
www.chaindlk.com

Heads smashed in by the boy/girl thing commence par deux chansons qui valent à elles seules des discographies entières. Avec I've been in an accident et The bierdigan, Betika nous offre deux titres limpides, somptueux et magiques. Si les six titres qui suivent et terminent ce premier opus ne sont pas à la hauteur (comment pourraient ils l'être), cela n'empêche pas I heads smashed in by the boy/girl thing d'être un excellent album. Recueil de love-songs précieuses et bien foutues accompagnées d'harmonies vocales d'une rare cohérence (entre Dave Purse et Carolyn Evans) et d'arrangements emplis de grâce (Summers of solemnity), cet album touche les âmes en peines et décuplent une sensibilité qu'on se garde bien de montrer. Loin des effets de mode, Betika tente de bâtir un palais de verre, un château dans le ciel. S'il n'y parvient pas totalement, les fondations sont déjà largement posées, et on attend maintenant la suite de cette construction.
www.i-muzzik.net

'This is a darling little disc. Betika is a quartet whose delicate pop numbers simply ooze Britishness. Their tender vocals will draw well-deserved comparisons to The Smiths (despite the fact that one of the band members is female) -- a comparison that's particularly apt given the slightly morose, smart-kid arrangements. However, this analogy ignores the disc's true delight -- the classical training that the members cannot quite escape. Accompanied by acoustic guitar, occasional xylophones, and a warm tape hiss, the four musicians intertwine their voices as if they were writing madrigals instead of pop songs. The end result is what a tender hooligan would have played in King Arthur's court. For instance, the dainty "Dance and Scream" has a completely misleading title, as its classical guitar and legato vocals invoke a courtly promenade instead of a mosh pit. The music's soft touch lingers long after the final notes fade away, making Heads Smashed in by the Boy/Girl Thing a disc to treasure.'
Splendidzine
www.splendidzine.com

Special edition for this cd, featuring two more tracks and a ghost one too. Thanks to Superglider rec once more, for sending us one more beautiful cd, - it would have been nearly impossible to know about Them in a different situation, i guess. And what a pity! Quartet from UK, Girl/BOY singing, cleary with a higher sublime style/class, on an elegant half-acoustic pop, - no percussions, principally on guitars. Release gave me shivers, touching lovesong, or One Day My House will be Flooded, or guitars arpeggio as petals falling of Dance and Scream. For who already loves Doves, The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian. Betika deserve a listening on night time, while out the window is raining and You're preparing some herb tea to someone, - and Superglider deserves a stronger echo about Their excellent releases, believe me!
Komakino Fanzine
www.inkoma.com

This has seriously got to be the worst cover in the world... i guess partly in the sense that it's done so well. It looks like a crappy printout of a cover that got wet and was still sent in. As it turns out, it was printed like that, but it almost caused me to toss the disc without even looking at it. I don't know if the label or the band is being promoted more here (the CD has the labels name and logo sprawled across it, but no mention of the bands name), but i'm here to talk about the band. Betika reminds me in ways of Mark Mothersbaugh's work on Rushmore and that theme song from Chasing Amy combined with Echobelly. This album jumps back and forth between male and female vocals, both of which have their strong points, creating an overall beautiful sound in a genre i normally wouldn't bother with (that being the coffeehouse crowd). They're also doing some pretty cool stuff as far as MP3s and the future of music are concerned, so that's worth checking out as well. author: Brent Warner
www.geekamerica.com