Philadelphia band Spirit Of The Beehive have announced a new album called ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH, which follows up their excellent 2018 record Hypnic Jerks and arrives on April 9 through Saddle Creek – their first for the legendary label.
Whereas Hypnic Jerks was hampered by limited studio time, ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH was created and recorded over a period of months, which allowed Spirit Of The Beehive to delve further into their sonic weirdness, incorporating new instruments. The first taste of the new record is “THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN’T DO”, which the band say “draws on some of the sonic aesthetic of SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE’s old records and aligns those sounds with the electronic instrumentation we’ve been exploring.”
Spirit Of The Beehive’s penchant for re-purposing old recordings is present too, as they begin the song on a bed of distorted guitar thrum and a clip from a retro television commercial. They then shift into high-tension kraut, with synths fizzing and a rattling rhythm alongside Rivka Ravede’s quiet mewling. Just as you’re wrapping your head around this dense sound collage, “THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN’T DO” morphs into a pulverising punk track with Zack Schwartz’s rasping scream leading the charge – before it dissolves back into the drone and sampling of the intro. And all this in three minutes! Phew.
You can listen to “THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN’T DO” on streaming platforms or watch the video below.
Spirit Of The Beehive’s new album ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH arrives on April 9 through Saddle Creek – and if you pre-order from the label’s website or the band’s Bandcamp then a portion will go to the Amistad Law Project.
You can find Spirit Of The Beehive on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
