Chicago rockers Beastii have released Follower, their first album in seven years. Beastii has brought a genre-bending collection of songs to the table that blends garage rock urgency in a post-punk atmosphere. Beastii wears their influences on their sleeves for all to see, and holy crap, is it fun.
The first half of Follower channels raw energy with precision and opens with the song “Justine.” Lyrics praise its titular hero for her intimidating coolness and being a fighting machine. The second track “The Limit,” who dares to join them, is equally a welcome and a challenge. “Cosmic Burner’s” mid-tempo is a nice transition into the surfy and note-bending “Spilt Milk.”
“Evil Eye” channels Le Tigre with its drum machine driving the song. An eighty-second intro jumps into short lyrics about cutting ties with someone and repeating lines, “Don’t look at me! Don’t talk to me! Don’t think about me!” The meditative “Double-Sided Cig” is a Sonic Youth-like song about seeing the faults in the habits you’re cultivating. Its pre-chorus chant “Don’t fuck it up, don’t fuck it up,” gives us a sense that there’s a lack on confidence and frustration in the attempts to make these changes. “Sell Out” is a nice little pep talk on your own creating worth and reminds you not to sell yourself for cheap or discount your personality.
The back half of this album is very post-punk. The Peter Gunn theme-styled bass line for “Butch Beach” is surfy and steady and feels like the long-lost child of the B-52’s “Planet Claire.” The drum-machined “Ghost Follower” is a driving synthy darkwave song “Subliminal” feels like it could fit well on a Pixies’ album. “In The Ground” is a moody romp before closing strong with the new wave “Trusted Mystik” and “Be Sweet.” “Be Sweet” seems to be the amalgamation of the sound cultivated by the band and might be my favorite closing song on a record this year.
I cite these influences of other bands not as a way to denigrate Follower at all. I think this is a well-made album. The best bands are the ones who can take their influences and meld them to create something new. This album succeeds because of this.
Jen Dot’s vocals adjust well to whatever genre is thrown at her. Her and Jesse Fevvers’ guitars work congruently on the rock songs of the album. Maureen Neer shares bass and keyboard duty with Kai Black and Asha Adisa of the band Orisun. The nonchalant keys on the more rockier songs only enhance their sound, but the keys on the post-punk songs really stand out. Chris Lee sits behind the drums and the mixing board on this album and has created a unique sound for Beastii to bring together.
There are right ways and wrong ways to do this sort of album. I’ve always felt bands that did the whole garage rock revival thing take themselves too seriously, but with Beastii, there’s an element of fun and joy that comes through vividly in arrangements. This record is a great journey through music and moods. Don’t sleep on this album. Follower from Beastii is out now.