Album Review: The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers

The highly likeable Auckland-based band’s second album is full of indie gems with enough hooks to fish for a decade.

Driving bass and guitars, lead singer Elizabeth Stokes’ Frankie Cosmos-esque vocals and a modest obsession with like, love, hate and heartbreak from both perspectives return on songs like I’m Not Getting Excited, Don’t Go Away and Mars, The God Of War.

Adeptly supported by vocalist, guitarist and producer Jonathan Pearce, the songwriting is tighter and more focused, and the Steely Dan harmonies are fuller than their debut, but the album retains much of the whimsy and rectitude that fans and other artists have come to love.