Hot Shots II (The Beta Band, 2001)

Back in 2000 a bunch of us at the bookstore were huge Beta Band fans. We all knew about them before they got their big name drop in the movie High Fidelity thanks to college radio and word of mouth. We were such crazy fans that we even liked their first full album, the much-maligned (by the Beta Band themselves) self-titled release from 1999. The promises were thick in the air that this album would be far better. Even the band was assuring fans that this new album would blow away its predecessor. We couldn't wait!

Move to the new year. Disappointed. I don't want to say that Hot Shots II is crappy, but it's far more calculated than the previous album, and far less charming. It felt like in their attempt to make amends for the first album (which they didn't have to do), they drained all the fun out of what made all their previous material so much fun. Admittedly the first album was a mess (listen to the "Beta Band Rap" opening track and you pretty much know what you're getting yourself into), but it had some kind of inexplicable electrifying charm, something that had carried over from the critically-lauded collection of their first three EP's from the 1990's. The songs on this album tend to hold a more consistent electronica-lite sound from song to song, as opposed to the "let's combine bubblegum and gansta rap over samples from the Black Hole movie" attitude that dominated up to this point.

As time went on, things improved, both for my feelings about this album as well as the direction of the band. 2004's Heroes to Zeros was a far stronger outing. Meanwhile, I finally gave poor Hot Shots II another chance. Admittedly it's a "grower" which improves with each listening. It's still my least favorite of the batch, but I've come to appreciate the intricate structuring of the songs, most of which hold to under five minutes. I'm listening to "Alleged" right now and I have to admit it's a really beautiful song. Unfortunately for the band, the continued lack of success finally drove the band to dissolution around 2005. The two major successor bands are the Aliens (which themselves seem to have vanished, alas!) and the numerous projects hatched from the warped mind of Steve Mason. Reunion? Can't say that's going to happen anytime soon.