Waking Ear

Beans/"Freak the Beat" -- Saw this ditty performed last night at Rubber Gloves, where Beans was opening for Prefuse 73. "Freak the Beat" is from an upcoming EP, and it's the closest the former member of Antipop Consortium has ever come to pop, complete with 4/4 time and a catchy female vocal chorus.

Prefuse 73 was fantastic, by the way. Rubber Gloves is up in Denton, Texas, about half an hour away from Dallas, and it's home to the University of North Texas, which makes it the closest thing you can get to a college-town kind of vibe anywhere near Dallas. I liked the kids at the show. I can call them kids now, because I'm all of 25. There were hip-hop kids and vinyl kids, music geeks all. Most of the girls, who were by far in the minority, had cut their hair short, probably for the first time.

The crowd was evenly split between indie rock standers and this new breed of kids who go to shows and dance, which I embrace but which still makes me a little nervous. I stood.