Of all the bands I’ve come across over the last few years there’s only one that defies all attempts to pigeon hole or classify. Philadelphia’s SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE have made some of the last decades most ground-breaking music across four stunning studio albums. Each album more confounding and spellbinding than the last. Entertainment, Death from 2021 moved that sound into another level with a mindboggling amount of intricacy ploughed into the construction of each track. That was followed by the single ‘The Door’ which came out the same year. It followed the same groove as the album and was an immersive listen both sides.
The band, Zack Schwartz, Corey Wichlin, and Rivka Ravede return now with the closing chapter to that Entertainment, Death book. I’m So Lucky is their new four song EP and it is us who should consider ourselves lucky to be getting it at all. In the summer of 2022, Schwartz and Rivka ended their romantic relationship after being together for over 10 years. This launched the band into a transitional state. Schwartz picks up the story.
“I don’t know if anybody was sure we would continue doing the band. But then we sorted it out slowly and we just all wanted to get back to work. We’ve been trying to make some of the newer stuff less maximalist and just focus on what we can accomplish live. It’s not that these songs are simpler: They’re just different and have more space, more room to breathe.”
With real gratitude let’s drop the needle and hear what they have created for us this time.
The EP opens on the slow pulsing intro of ‘human debenture’. Immediately you can hear the kinship with the Entertainment, Death era tracks. That contrast between dark and light. Between the warm and airy opening and the out and out screamo chorus. Do SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE songs even have verses or choruses. Structure is something more fluid in their music.
Eerie spoken word samples kick us off in to ‘really happening’. The vocal is almost spoken throughout the opening section. When we get to title refrain that signature off kilter SOTB guitars kick in almost sounding like a discarded Bond theme. When Ravede takes over lead vocal duties the song kicks into an otherworldly samba. It’s genius and its my stand out track from the EP.
‘Tapeworm’ comes in hard, the bass super fuzzy, the guitars bit crunched and synthed up. Vocals screamed at top volume. Yet when the most genteel piano piece kicks in we aren’t surprised. It’s just another example of what the band calls “collage rock”. A nice play on words that sums up their approach perfectly. You just never know what to expect.
Speaking of which, the closing track ‘natural devotion 2’ is a call back to a track form their very first EP. This could be considered the bands pop track but only pop in the universe SOTB have created. It has Groove Armada like samples, a soulful synth part. The boy girl vocal exchange is totally engaging and sucks you in. This is something totally new from them yet still familiar and works so well as the closer for this set of songs.
This is a wonderful gift, the red ribbon that ties up the Entertainment, Death era of the band. These songs ooze confidence and showcase the inventive spirit that embodies all their music. Within these four songs they skip from gleeful to twisted, from sinister to euphoric and every emotion in between. That, right there, is the reason I love this band so much.
I’m so lucky is available now digitally and on two variants of seven-inch vinyl from the SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE Bandcamp page.
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