favorite beat happening song
 

the this many boyfriends club is mine.

Nancy Sin

Wow. I don't know. But I'm now inspired to go listen to all my Beat Happening stuff.

I'll get back to ya.

The Beat were freaking great! And nobody better dare call them twee pop either!! They were grunge, man.

Maybe it's obvious, but Indian Summer. It's the first song I ever heard by them, and I fucking love it.

fortune cookie prize!

Probably Bewitched. I like the stalkerish nature of the lyrics.

"Bad Seeds", everything else (and I love most of it) was kind of trying to get there again.

"Sea Hunt" is my favorite.
Then again, it's the only Beat Happening song I like.
Actually, it's the only Beat Happening song that doesn't send me into a fit of rage about how annoying Beat Happening are and how harmful their influence has been to "independent music" occurring in their wake.
But "Sea Hunt" is a pretty good song, yeah.

i never liked them much, just always sounded like a less spastic/good half japanese, but the song "i let him get to me" on the s/t record is phenomenal.

I'm glad we have this point of divergence.

While I agree that the twee imitators are deserving of a special concentration camp with crayons and kool aid provided, Beat Happening were one of the most subversive punk bands of all time. The were a beautiful "fuck you" in the face of the hardcore machismo that surrounded the indie/punk world of their day, and the best part was that they did it by being polite.

They were also quite influential on quite a few bands that didn't suck and didn't try to cop their schtick, from Unwound to Godheadsilo. Anybody who actually "got" Beat Happening wouldn't try to sound like them, though there was something to be learned from the spirit and the refusal to blindly accept conventions be they rock, punk, indie, grunge, or whatever the fuck.

Foggy Eyes at the moment.

"Our Secret"

yeah i never called them twee and i like a little bit twee pop. i always called them a punk band.

Our Secret & What's Important

I can see that.

Because they came out of the Seattle/Portland scene, I always associated them with the grunge scene. Back in their day, though, I also heard them associated with the "lo-fi" tag.

Beat Happening reek "twee" not that it's necessarily a bad thing. I really don't hear a punk side to them, save for very few songs.

they were punk in spirit and not sound.

teenage caveman
hot chocolate boy
drive car girl
midnight a go-go
ask me

and i feel like "the this many boyfriends club" has potential to be another favorite, just juding by how fucking awesome the title is. but ive never actually heard it, so cant say for sure.

Absolutely. When they opened for Black Flag in the '80s, Henry Rollins went in the crowd during their set and reached up and grabbed Calvin's crotch. Calvin just calmly responded with, "Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" and kept on singing.

You know that's kind of funny? Before this thread, as you can see from my above comment, I wasn't a fan of Beat Happening at all. I always kind of viewed them as doing the same things Half Japanese did but not as good and 8 or so years later. After seeing all you're responses, I realized maybe I unfairly judged them. I then downloaded some of thier live stuff and "Jamboree", and realized what an idiot I am for not having loved them for all these years. This is the type of thing that I love; extremly lo-fi Punk music with melodies buried underneath tons of poor production. The songs on "Jamboree" sound so honest, and the music so basic and elemental, it's a record one could listen to a thousand times and not get sick of. So, I am glad to say I'm not a fan of Beat Happening, partly because of this thread. Times like these make me realize why I post on message boards in the first place (besides the fact I'm a huge nerd).

that indian summer song.

I like the acapella ones on Jamboree the best.

yeah those are great.

Clichéd it may be, but it’s Indian Summer for me.

Close behind are Drive Car Girl, Cat Walk and Bewitched, all of which are completely brilliant. As will be obvious from these choices, I only have Jamboree, and yes, I know I should get the others.

Don't know how I feel today, I feel the same as yesterday. You got a joke, a smoke and punctuation but not enough time for conversation!


I don't even know if those are the right lyrics, I'm doing it from mind haha...

That's cool. That's part of the thing about Beat Happening, you're sort of NOT supposed to like them at first. They have so many traits that can seem awkward and annoying that it takes a kind of "Aha" moment to get that they really are punk in all the right ways and the music really is a minimalist statement in art.

When I fist saw them in 1986 with Mecca Normal, Girl Trouble, and the Screaming Trees, I didn't like them. I told Calvin about that ten years later, and he looked hurt and just said, "Sorry." I don't even think he was kidding! I told, him, no, I just wasn't ready.

When I saw them open for Fugazi in like '92 and he had this awesome sarcastic stage banter mocking the club and Nation of Ulysses (who were up first, yes they went on between those two band and pulled it off!), and dancing like a possessed man, it hit, and I got it, and I've loved them ever since.

beat happening and NoU in the same show? makes me wish i was older. well, not really, but it sounds like an amazing show.

Hopefully I'll see some cool line-ups and think to myself 10 years down the line, "I was THERE!"

Next show I'm going to is Deerhoof/Experimental Dental School. I hope that's classic.

Next show I'm going to is Shellac, I really really hope they have some cool noise rock band supporting them.

yeah im going to the tucson date of that in november,

and even before that, on my birthday (october 22) is POLYSICS.

polysics were great live.

I saw them on october 26th last year!!

Seeing them Oct 29th.

I wish I could see Polysics.

Polysics seems fun live.

I've only seen Shellac once, but I don't remember who opened for them. Who the fuck cares, it was that good. Maybe they didn't have an opening act, I'm starting to remember. I think they played two 45 minute sets by themselves or something like that.

Of course I do remember seeing the U-men open for Big Black, but that was like the worst U-men set ever.

I don't mind being my age, but then people usually think I'm 20 years younger than I am. The kid who has a radio show on after me asked me if I was a PSU student today, and I graduated from college in 13 years ago, and that was ten years after high school! I was probably doing college radio before he was born, but he thought I was around his age.

shellac is probably the best band i ever saw live.

brick layer cake opened.

i think you got it right..

that song is great! :p

I Spy.

Same.