Jump Rope Gazers

The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers
Critic Score
Based on 25 reviews
2020 Ratings: #192 / 871
User Score
Based on 412 ratings
2020 Rank: #202
Liked by 37 people
July 10, 2020 / Release Date
LP / Format
Carpark / Label
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Upset
Marrying killer pop chops with an honesty and sincerity makes resistance to their charms futile.
90
God Is in the TV

Everything that made Future Me Hates Me special remains on The Beths’ wonderful second album. Jump Rose Gazers confirms the band have the humanity to be relatable, and they have a gift for creating songs that aim for the heart and stay in the head.

85
The Young Folks

The Beths’ sophomore album, Jump Rope Gazers, does precisely what you want a second album to do: it lets the band sound older, wiser, and even more talented.

85
The Line of Best Fit

The Beths have managed to create another overwhelmingly thrilling record. One in stunning communion with their debut but also distinctly its own creature.

80
PopMatters

New Zealand power-poppers the Beths return with a sophomore album that makes even the most senior indie-rock acts feel rudimentary by comparison.

80
Spectrum Culture

The growth and maturity demonstrated on this album is indicative of just how special they are.

80
Northern Transmissions

Jump Rope Glazers isn’t the flashiest thing you’ll hear these days but it’s strengths are copious and evident with every subsequent track featured within. It’s rare to find a band that is so low on pretence, high on sincerity and so wholly appealing.

80
Mojo

No wheels were reinvented in the making of this record, but it travels straight to the heart nonetheless.

80
Loud and Quiet

The Beths take another step forward on Jump Rope Gazers, a second album bursting with melodic and high-octane riffs.

80
Rolling Stone

With Jump Rope Gazers, the Beths ... prove that despite a global pandemic, it’s still possible to have a good time. They might not be excited, but we sure are.

80
Exclaim!

While there's an overall sense of reining in and refining on Jump Rope Gazers that keeps it from reaching the giddiest heights of its predecessor, the band sounds just as good in this mode as the other, just a little different.

80
DIY

The Beths find their most focused sound yet in the midst of uncertainty.

80
Under the Radar

The Auckland quartet effortlessly combine their trademark mix of fizzing melodies and crunching guitars underpinned with deft lyrics that evoke sunshine, self-doubt, euphoria, and heartbreak.

80
No Ripcord

Aside from continuing their streak of power pop gold, the harmonies on display (including Stokes’ multi-tracked ones) are ravishing.

80
AllMusic

Filled with bouncy riffs, sweet harmonies, anxiety, and kindness, Jump Rope Gazers confirms that the Beths are good at slower, more reflective songs, too, though there's plenty of spark to carry listeners through.

78
Beats Per Minute

The songs on Jump Rope Gazers aren’t as immediately addictive as what came before, but The Beths’ natural intuition for emotive and melodic writing is still intact.

75
Paste

With Jump Rope Gazers, The Beths add new layers to the sound they began establishing two years ago, and those layers are as touching as they are revealing.

70
Slant Magazine

Every element of the album is so richly defined that these songs can’t help but pop.

70
Uncut

Ultimately, it's an album rooted in the constant collision of rock and pop.

63
Pitchfork
On their second LP, the New Zealand indie rockers downshift into a muted, sleeker sound, sacrificing some of the energy that made their debut special.
60
Clash

It’s an album that Beths fans will doubtless like very much, and it offers a strong mission statement to the future that this is a band hungry to expand and determined to explore the hitherto untrodden ground.

60
NME

The irony of ‘Jump Rope Gazers’ is that as The Beths push themselves to do something different for album number two, they actually end up with the sonic sameness that the first record miraculously avoided.

Whynot
78

OK, this is a good album. Yeah, it is true that is not a game changer, but it is also true that most of the things we listen everyday has nothing disruptive or openly innovative about it too. So I agree with most of you saying this sounds like many others things (for sure I can think in Courtney Barnett, Hop Along, Martha and probably a bunch of nineties band) but it is well done! It is uplifitng, most of the hooks are super catchy and Stokes vocals are amazingly warm.

Maybe I would have like ... read more

MasterCrackfox
77

For those able to check out Future Me Hates Me, The Beths debut album, don't be surprised to find you're bound to like this as much as their last album. The groups hooky consistency hasn't faltered two years later, and judging by the groups willingness to stick to the format you should probably expect to like anything the group release in the future as well.

Jump Rope Gazers isn't game changing nor is it trying to be. The Beths chunk out catchy punk adjacent songs like it's nobody's business, ... read more

winitheju
84

The Beths' debut flew under the radar a bit and here's to hoping this one won't. Just solid, no-frills indie rock.

SoupAnd2Sticks
89

:'(

-

Such a clean mix, such a pretty sound, and such great lyrics. Yep yep yep, this is a record to remember! Some of these tunes are downright addictive with their infinite replayability and guitar lines. Although the guitar and the vocals are definitely the most "important" part of the songs, the drums and bass hold down such a great groove for each tune. The drums especially have some amazing chops that really please my ears. Much like the sounds of crashing waves, the drums ... read more

HippestHobbit
80

This was a really exciting album. It has moments like Dying to believe that are little more experimental and songs like Jump Rope Gazers that are more simple folky indie rock but this song has gotten better every time I've listened to it. It is probably my the most catchy of the songs on the album, most of the songs have moments that are catchy and then it goes into a more experimental solo and sound. I recommend this album to anyone who enjoys indie rock and fun.

JR3
95

This album just gives me the "warm and fuzzies" every time I listen to it. Great riffs, high energy, and optimistic lyrics from beginning to end. You won't be able to wipe the smile off your face by the end as the album will slowly infect you with positive energy.

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Added on: April 7, 2020