Look Around is a compilation bringing us the very best of Beat Happening. If you haven’t heard of them before, you should know that the band is a trailblazer of indie rock scene. By releasing five albums in period between 1985 and 1992, they were an epitome of prolific indie acts (at the time when indie rock meant more than just a lax subgenre term).
The band emerged as a product of Washington’s alternative indie scene. Being relatively isolated from the rest of the United States (remember, populist internet and social media did not exist at that time) meant that the boys were being left on their own. That is why their omnipresent DIY principle comes as no surprise.
Today, when the term indie lost its original meaning (when it is put on mannequin faces), everything is different. Earlier, the bands were designing their own promotional posters for concerts and recorded their music in improvised studios, rejecting the rules of mainstream, commercial game. It sounds like an utopia of innocence, right?
Beat Happening were oriented towards softness and simplicity, something like a vulnerable side of The Velvet Underground. They were often compared to R.E.M, although I think the closest parallel to be drawn is the one with Violet Femmes. Primitive sound image with basic guitars and drums, infantile lyrics and adolescent eroticism are the ingredients both bands were keen to use.
Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis and Bret Lunsford were all equal. They even switched positions on the instruments. Still, Johnson stood out as the band’s leader. He became one of the key figures of the American alternative scene with his numerous activities outside the band.
Calvin was one of the founders Sub Pop franchise that will become one of the most important independent record labels. He also founded his own independent label K Records that served as a shelter for many bands trying to escape the swindle of the big labels. Calvin Johnson was also a stimulator of the cult festival International Pop Underground. More importantly, he was a collaborator of one of the most idiosyncratic indie guys such as Beck, Jon Spencer and Mark Lanegan.
Look Around is set chronologically. Songs from the band’s first album represent the essence of their rudimental expression, sounding like they were recorded in someone’s living room. Tracks from subsequent albums are more complex in production, but never too polished. Indian Summer and Godsend are graced with Heather Lewis’ soft vocal and they are perfect in their lo-fi aesthetic. They are pop and anti-pop at the same time.
Black Candy, Read Head Walking and Pinebox Derby sound like a soundtrack for a b-horror and they were primarily influenced by The Cramps, the band with whom Beat Happening were obsessed with at the time. Closing track Angel Gone was released as a single ten years after the band’s last full-length album.
Look Around is a window into the work of a truly independent band, the arche-indie band.
