This Kind of Punishment - A Beard of Bees
| Comments: | Peter and Graeme Jefferies at some of their finest. |
| Artist: | This Kind of Punishment |
| Rating: | |
| Genres: | Post-Punk |
| Released: | 1984 |
| Type: | Album |
| Label: | Flying Nun |
| Link: | Bandcamp |
In the fertile terrain of New Zealand's 1980s post-punk scene, few figures loom as large as the Jefferies brothers. Graeme Jefferies and Peter Jefferies – the primary forces behind This Kind of Punishment – wrote some of the best music to come out on Flying Nun, Xpressway or elsewhere. A dizzying mix of pastoral ballads and DIY experimentation, TKP's songwriting was at once classic and acutely raw....
Among This Kind Of Punishment's myriad recordings, A Beard Of Bees best outlines the collective vision of the Jefferies brothers. Their classic second album feels more meticulous than its predecessor, proffering a grey, near-Mancunian influence that serves as both touchstone and springboard for the proceedings. The unique maneuvering on "Trepidation" is a marvel: guitar sweetness shifting toward melancholic piano and ending with their combined shimmer. Conversely, the augmented VU-inspired noise of "East Meets West" positions itself as the album's prime moment of severity – creepily building toward horror-show screams that inch to a buried, found-sound resolution.
Among This Kind Of Punishment's myriad recordings, A Beard Of Bees best outlines the collective vision of the Jefferies brothers. Their classic second album feels more meticulous than its predecessor, proffering a grey, near-Mancunian influence that serves as both touchstone and springboard for the proceedings. The unique maneuvering on "Trepidation" is a marvel: guitar sweetness shifting toward melancholic piano and ending with their combined shimmer. Conversely, the augmented VU-inspired noise of "East Meets West" positions itself as the album's prime moment of severity – creepily building toward horror-show screams that inch to a buried, found-sound resolution.
Editions:
1984
Original Release
Flying Nun
| Vinyl, LP
| Side A: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A1. | Prelude | (2:07) | |
| A2. | From the Diary of Hermann Doubt | (3:18) | |
| A3. | The Horrible Tango | (4:34) | |
| A4. | Trepidation | (3:50) | |
| A5. | East Meets West | (3:55) | |
| Side B: | |||
| B1. | Turning to Stone | (4:27) | |
| B2. | Although They Appear | (3:49) | |
| B3. | The Sleepwalker | (3:32) | |
| B4. | An Open Denial | (7:03) | |