Auckland, NZ · indie rock · power pop

The Beths

2 upcoming festivals

Auckland's harmony-stacked power-pop treasures — jazz-school chops, huge hearts, and 'Expert in a Dying Field' proof of mastery.

The Beths formed in Auckland in 2015, with Elizabeth Stokes on vocals and guitar and Jonathan Pearce on guitar; the members met studying jazz at university, and that training shows up less in the arrangements than in the precision of the playing and the stacked group harmonies that back nearly every chorus. Their songs pair bright, fast power-pop structures with lyrics about anxiety, self-doubt and the awkward mechanics of relationships, a contrast that has become the band's signature. Albums including Future Me Hates Me, Jump Rope Gazers and Expert in a Dying Field established them well beyond New Zealand, and they tour heavily, with Pearce also engineering and producing the band's records.

indie rockpower pop