Teddy Bears Gone Bad
A CD by Ross Beach and the Hellpets
Ross Beach Music, Portland, OR.
www.rossbeach.com

download "It's Enough"

Ross Beach is a modern-day troubadour recasting no-depression-brand folk country by flirting with alt-pop, post-grunge icons like Modest Mouse or Built to Spill, or (dare I hearken back this far), early Pixies. In other words, this is guitar rock. The only electronica here is a keyboard and it's played straight, sounding slightly Manzarek at times, following the basic chords like a support group, not a single blip or beep to disrupt the real star of the CD--the Songs. Which are structured, tight, short, and hummable, sticking to you like the rice in a California roll that, as you dip it into some trendy sauce, makes you wonder; how in the hell do they get it to hold together like that without Elmer's? It's careful crafting, boys and girls, no gelatinous tricks to distract you from the emotional truth. These eleven songs hold together; they're not quite spare, but clear, heavy with bottom bass, sprinkled with ethereal girl-vocals complementing Beach's romantic crooning, and, oh yeah, they rock.