BEANGROWERS: 48k
June 1999
A unique band with a unique sound!
It is a sunny Sunday afternoon - actually, not just sunny, but an
intensely hot afternoon - and, with some collected effort, I make my way
to Mark Sansone's house. Mark, for the uninitiated, plays bass with
Beangrowers, the local band that has managed to secure what all other
Maltese bands have always hoped to attain - a solid record deal with a
major label abroad. The label is Rough Trade - home to music stalwarts
such as The Smiths, Pixies, and recent Welsh phenomenon, The
Stereophonics - and the deal involves four albums over a span of five
years. Not bad, one might say!!
Actually it is more like, unbelievable - yet all very true! And so I
find myself in the company of Mark and Ian (Schranz, drummer) - who I
have disturbed from their studies (not!) - and with whom I sit down for
a preview listen to their debut album, '48k'. By the way, the title
refers to Mark's favourite computer - the vintage Spectrum, which seems
to play an important role in Beangrower history. The album features 14
tracks, most of which had been previously recorded by the band on the
several demos they had completed during their two years or so together.
This record, then can also be regarded as a summarised collection of
Beangrowers repertoire to date.
So, the play button is pressed, and the intro notes of 'Astroboy' - the
song that you can't not have heard yet - get underway. I enquire about
the song's subject and Mark points out that it is a love song, between
who else but - Astro and Boy!! Really, now, how did I miss that? 'Astroboy'
is a catchy slice of alt-pop, and it contains a chainsaw guitar sound
that is simply impeccable. Ian and Mark are quite surprised that I think
so, especially since the version on '48k' is actually a rough take.
Well, I do! We move on to forthcoming single 'Genzora', which, Mark
quips, is another love song between, you guessed it - Gen and Zora, but
not really. The song - a barbed slab of power-pop all about a girl
called Genzora who seems to be something of a wild thing - got its name
from some weird mutation of a) either a tribute to the band Jane Air,
who are close friends of Beangrowers - or b) a friend's daughter's
name!!
By track three - the curiously named 'Milky Moo Moo' - I've just about
given up on trying to make sense of this band's eccentric manner of
choosing song titles. Instead, I focus on their music, and in the
background, the hauntingly beautiful chorus 'Come to life...and meet me
in my mind.....' is simply overwhelming. Ignore the title (sorry Ian!) -
this is by far one of the stronger tracks on this album. Equally
striking is the song 'Feel', a track written by Alison while she was
away from Malta - in Germany, to be precise. Written specifically for a
German movie soundtrack, 'Feel' has an urban vibe to it, but maintains a
brash guitar build-up that aligns the song to a defined Beangrower sound
that starts to become more clear with each track.
Alison, I am told by Mark and Ian, likes to write love songs, yet even
in the quieter moments, Beangrowers love songs elude the naffness of
storybook romance. Instead, they paint a dreamy soundscape that often
centres on Alison's gentle singing and vocal twists. One such example is
'Leafy', which as Mark helpfully explains is, well.....leafy. He
continues that it was written when leaves started to fall from their
garage ceiling, but I do suspect he's pulling my leg again! This is
quite a change from the Mark I know, especially since, during my last
interview with them some two years back, he hardly said a word.
Before forming Beangrowers, Mark and Ian used to be tennis partners, and
I assumed that this was the connection that inspired the next track,
'Advantage McEnroe'. Not entirely so, but McEnroe is in fact, something
of an idol in the Beangrowers' camp. The song, on the other hand is as
far away from tennis as possible. It is actually a love song of sorts,
though I suspect it's more of a song of longing, maybe even lust. Later,
Mark plays me an old tape which reveals some interesting details about
the actual origins of this song's title, but....back to the album!
A sugar-sweet keyboard sound introduces the buzzguitars of 'Cabbage
Head' - which, before I even have time to ask, I am told was written by
Alison and dedicated to Mark. The lyrics are somewhat scattered, but
Mark tells me they are largely inspired by an incident in which he lost
Alison's credit cards - nice one!! The song is a cross between early
Pixies and Belly, and despite its lyrical inspiration, is a fine piece
of alt-rock that ends with a subtle and brief excerpt of 'Lanca gejja u
ohra sejra', which Ian informs me, Alison spontaneously decided to add
on during recording. The Belly affinity also crops up on 'Poody winkles'
(don't even ask!). Lyrics are by Mark who tells me they are about being
happy - charming I think, since the first line reads 'I bleed to drain
my life away', but the last line does read 'Sit together in the sun -
having fun!!
The mood slows right down with 'Frenchy', a lazy, hazy song that has Ian
applying a slow, jazzy skiffle beneath Alison's softly-spoken words and
Mark's interactive basslines. Still in laidback mood, 'Saguna man', a
ballad allegedly inspired by the cliffs of Gozo, conjures images of an
almost-dreamy day out, completely lost in a wide open space. The song's
sudden outbursts remind me of onetime indie hopefuls Th'Faith Healers,
while Alison's singing verges closely to PJ Harvey circa 'Rid of me'.
The mood is broken by the one minute forty three seconds of brash
punk-pop that is titled 'Miffy'. Inspired by a bunny rabbit character,
the weird lyrics are Ian's work, and before you know it, in comes
'Spooky wooky', one of the band's earliest compositions, and the song
credited with keeping the band going. Good job it did too, or we might
have been denied songs such as 'Atari vs Spectrum', the next track on
the album. Overlooking the totally misleading title - which Ian and Mark
came upon through their passion for primitive computers - this is
another of the album's better moments, possessing another sublime chorus
that, together with the first seven or eight tracks on '48k', make this
an excellent debut for Beangrowers. The closing track, 'Maradona' is
actually another love song, named in honour of another of the band's
idols. Incidentally, listed in the thanks list, we find yet another
idol, Maltese footballer Carmel Busuttil. No songs by that title are as
yet forthcoming, but who knows......with Beangrowers, anything is
possible!!
We round off this session with a quick look at the 'Astroboy' video clip
- which I hadn't yet seen - and a listen to one of the B-sides which
will be on the 'Genzora' single. It is called 'Spectrum vs Atari' and as
you may have figured out, it is the album track played in reverse. An
interesting experiment, which actually sounds good too - and it is
slightly reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins in a weird sort of way.
Anyway, I decide that I have taken up enough of Ian and Mark's study
time, so I stop here. Listening to '48k' actually brings to mind several
indie bands all at once, not just the few I mentioned earlier. However,
what Beangrowers have managed to do on this impressive debut, is to feed
off their several influences to produce a unique sound all their very
own, obviously with some help from Gareth Jones, Thomas Hanreich and
David Vella! Expect to hear more about this band.....in the meantime,
'48k' is the name of the album you should be asking for. !
Recommended weblink: www.beangrowers.net
Read our review of Beangrowers' second album here!
Photos by Olaf Heine