Deadbeat Beat
“Almost twee, almost punk, always spot on. Tunes for best friends and ex-lovers.” - Noisey
"While the song undoubtedly captures the unpleasant cocktail of social anxiety mixed with overconsumption, it also serves as a dizzying metaphor for those meandering through the clusterfuck known as 'your twenties.'" - Audiofemme
“Deadbeat Beat's music can't just be pop, even if it's catchy as hell, with melodies like kites caught in a summer breeze and rhythms that rollick and propel a listener's weary spirit back into a sense of exuberance and adventurousness, while the lyrics, albeit sprung from personal experiences, capture a completely relatable sense of the human experience." -Detroit Metro Times
Deadbeat Beat slowly took shape as the natural extension of a friendship begun in high school by drummer/vocalist Maria Nuccilli and guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Alex Glendening. Always at shows, hanging out, killing time and absorbing music, the two moved through early projects and various members coming and going before solidifying Deadbeat Beat with the inclusion of bassist Zak Frieling. By that point the band began finding their legs at shows in Detroit and through a series of sporadically self-released demos, EPs and singles.
In a scene of restless loners, everyone’s in at least a couple bands. While Deadbeat Beat actively percolated, Maria’s lockstep drumming kept time for longtime candy-psych heroes Outrageous Cherry and Alex played with trashpunk stalwarts Tyvek and filled in on bass and guitar for Saddle Creek’s Stef Chura and Richard Davies’ recently reformed iteration of The Moles. Even immersed in a wildly creative community Deadbeat Beat stayed on a different path, set apart by complex songwriting that drew from more internal perspectives.
While taking notes on the blacked-out guitar scuzz of their friends and neighbors, there was equal time spent dissecting key records by Kevin Ayers, La Düsseldorf, Joni Mitchell, Julian Cope, The Clean, and a whole litany of rainy pop music. Musically varied and lyrically congruous, How Far finds the band at the strongest voicing of this strange nexus, one spawned from rough nights at shitty dive bars as the emotional foundations for soaring pop songs that nervously bump into one another. Largely a reflection on asserting and maintaining a queer identity in an almost completely straight crowd, Glendening’s songs hit at the gut level — either doused in syrup like the harmony-heavy “You Lift Me Up” or stretched into an anxious infinity like “Tree, Grass & Stone,” the album’s extended freak out jam that still feels like a confessional indie pop song.
Recorded in Detroit’s North End neighborhood by Jeff Else and mastered by Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good to Me), How Far came together in between multiple self-booked tours, including dates with bands like Guided By Voices, Anna Burch, Tacocat, Bodega and Protomartyr.
Follow Deadbeat Beat:
Bandcamp: deadbeatbeat.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @deadbeatbeat
Instagram: @deadbeat_beat
Twitter: @deadbeatbeat