Search - Beulah :: When Your Heartstrings Break

A tarmacadam oasis of shimmering indie pop

Darragh Mc Causland | Ireland | 03/19/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I don't think the words "short" and "sweet" have ever been so apt. When Your Heartstrings Break clocks in somewhere just over the 30 minute mark, and you get the feeling that not one minute has been wasted. This album is an intensely sugary sweet, a rush of flavour that bursts all over your tastebuds and is gone before you feel overindulged.
Beulah are a really tight outfit. They marry perfect harmonies to choppy indie guitars and the odd happy blast of a horn section. Think cracked concrete foothpaths and icecreams on a sunny day. This is the sort of music that lights up miserable November mornings with an early promise of next June.
As for concerns over its short length, what can I say except I don't think pet sounds broke the 40 minute barrier either.
An album for anyone who likes their indie pop to skip down the sunnier side of the street."

The essential indie pop album

thebainer@hotmail.com | Melbourne, Australia | 03/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With this album, Beulah takes a great step upward from their first release, "Handsome Western States". The beautiful lyrics are still there, but this time they're wrapped up in some of the best chamber pop around. The best examples of this are the horns on "Emma Blowgun's Last Stand" and the strings on "Sunday Under Glass". As if that wasn't enough, the smooth production runs rings around the almost garage feel of Western States.The album includes a mix of fun songs like "Aristocratic Swells" and deep ones like "Score From Augusta" (no mean feat considering there are only eleven tracks). There really is something for everyone with tracks ranging from convential indie pop to unusual chamber pop, and everything inbetween.The only problem I have with this CD is that it is too short! Its eleven tracks run for just 34 minutes, leaving you begging for more. However, this just makes you listen again and pick up all the subtleties.In short, a deceptively complex album that sounds so good it is essential listening for any self-respecting music fan."

Beulah's high point

P. Schumacher | atlanta, GA United States | 06/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like much of the output of the Elephant 6 collective (Apples in Stereo, Minders), this is really beautifully crafted new psychedelic pop.The songs are charmingly composed and sung, and have a lot of heart.It's short, but in that short space they provide more beautiful songs than many much longer albums (including Beulah's own Coast is Never Clear)."