“I WILL NOW SELL 5 COPIES OF THE BETA BANDS’ ‘THE THREE E.P.’S'”| A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW

EP REVIEW | THE BETA BAND – THE THREE E.P.’S by Tom Whittleton

The Beta Band return, like a phoenix from the ashes of a spliff in my college days, they have reissued The Three E.P.’s, a seminal collection of spaced-out psychedelic trip-hop originally released in 1998.

The band was formed in 1996 in Scotland by Steve Mason and Gordon Anderson. After working on their first EP Champion Versions, they expanded the lineup with Robin Jones (Drums) , John Maclean (DJ, Sampler) and Steve Duffield (Bass). Nearly a decade of touring and releases later, in 2004 they called it quits in 2004 after a label dispute.

I, for one, am just glad they are back.

My introduction to the band was in the immortal words of John Cusack‘s Rob Gordon in the early 2000s Rom-Com High Fidelity where he sells 5 copies of this album after dropping the needle on the first track ‘Dry the Rain’; which much like in the film, sent me down a rabbit hole of Beta Band exploration.

Champion Versions (1997)

It was in college that my love affair with The Beta Band began, vivid memories of lying out in the fields between the post-industrial wastelands of my hometown and, most importantly, bunking off lectures, laughing with mates as The Three E.P.s crackled out of a rubbish portable speaker.

This isn’t even nostalgia bait, it’s just that good. ‘Dry The Rain’ comes first, a multi-layered folky build-up drags you through hot summer concrete with a laid back walk through the lyrics. Accompanied by slide blues guitar, you get an immediate sense of who The Beta Band are: sonic slacker mad heads. Before a drop of bass wobble and sampled beats, bongos and psychedelic rhythm guitar.

The real highlight of this track is its beautiful mash-ups of different genre conventions, processed beats meet recorded percussion and a bassline so groovy ,I dare you not to nod your head. A horn section appears and elevates ‘Dry The Rain’ yet again to a Sgt Pepper’s level trip. My headphones are a time machine pulling me back to the summer I first heard this track.

Steve Mason’s beautifully melodic voice carries the line “If there’s something inside that you want to say, Say it out loud, it’ll be okay, I will be your light”. This genuinely might be one of my favourite lyrics of all time, it’s hopeful support for a future to come, the rest of the band joining in for the last vocal melody that builds to the end.

As for album openers, this rules on a level that sets the scene for the tracks to come. If given the chance, I would gladly spend the rest of this review talking about ‘Dry the rain’.

The next track on the first EP is ‘I Know’, a De La Soul hip hop bass line starts the song, a light guitar strumming, and a tambourine-covered drum beat chill you out to the maximum extent. Mason waxes lyrical in a Lou Reed tribute to trip hop. This song is a cold beer on a warm day and your favourite pair of sunglasses.

Followed closely by the next nugget of stylish head boppers ‘B+A’, an instrumental build up with a fantastically industrial back beat into a Radiohead style guitar interlude that wouldn’t be out of place on OK Computer. Percussion-heavy and cinematic, the band lays into the explosion of bass-heavy funk rock in the drop.

Loud as hell clapping drives the tune as the cymbals crash, huge keyboard chords add an almost horror element to the mix. It’s soundtrack material and a pure groove. Like the Stone Roses at the end of ‘I am the Resurrection’, you can hear the band having the jamming time of their life.

A brief break from the building heavy beats is ‘Dog Got a Bone’ The folkiest of the tracks. Accordion and lazily strummed chords lead into another melodic chorus between the band, who’s joint vocals give Pet Sounds level appeal. “Listen, you will see coming on into me”, is chanted in a rhythmic pattern as the percussion builds into ecstatic joy.

The Patty Patty Sound (1998)

The second EP ,The Patty Patty Sound, continues the funky layered grooves of the first with opening track ‘Inner meet me‘, Mason raps bars of psychedelic rhymes into the backdrop of a band thoroughly enjoying the building of their own spaced out world within our own.

This EP drives more into the trip hop elements of the band’s influences with the experimental track ‘The House Song’, which uses a looped vocal line to build the beat.

Ever unpredictable, the song shifts into a French rap beat with a heavy bass line, funk drums and reverb-heavy feedback. Percussion again is the driving force with record scratching and disco-inspired levels of pure delight, even sampling bird song and what sounds like Morse code into a seven-minute-long lounge around masterpiece.

The EP finishes with ‘She’s The One’. This takes the Beatles’ psychedelia and filters it through another lens of layered vocals and unique instrumentation. You feel that the band at this time is so cohesive and together in the sole purpose of recording their sonic experiments to bring the listener into as much of an overwhelming trip as is possible on a 4-track EP.

Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos (1998)

The final EP is Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos, with the first track ‘Push It Out’, being the darkest of the tracks so far. Looped vocals continue as piano carries the track into the realm of Massive Attack. The repeated “Push it out” melody gives another layer of hypnosis as the song fades.

I’m trying to count the number of instruments used in this collection so far, but I lost track as I reached double figures. The multi-instrumental variation in The Three EP’s is a testament to the dedication of The Beta Band. ‘It’s Over’ is next, and using a double bass to add a haunting jazz folk rhythm. One of the compilation highlights for me is its folky and dark, but not without that continued love of melodic complexity.

It all comes to a close on ‘Needles In My Eyes’ with an organ filling the tracks, opening is like a church sermon from psychedelic folk heaven. The band conclude the EP’s in a full cycle return to the elements that made ‘Dry the Rain’ so addictive as an opener.

The Beta Band remain as a personal stand-out in my musical development, and in the development of so many genres which populated the late 90s. Its a joy to play this compilation in full again and just drown in it.

The Beta Band are re-releasing ‘The Three E.P.s’ on the July 11th via Because Music, with a SOLD OUT reunion tour across the UK to follow. If you managed to bag tickets then prepare to enjoy the expansive, truly unique experience which is The Beta Band. Pre-Order The Deluxe Version HERE!

5.09.25 – Barrowland – GLASGOW (SOLD OUT)
26.09.25 – Barrowland – GLASGOW (SOLD OUT)
27.09.25 – O2 Academy – LEEDS (SOLD OUT)
29.09.25 – O2 Academy – BRISTOL (SOLD OUT)
30.09.25 – Rock City – NOTTINGHAM (SOLD OUT)
 
02.10.25 – Roundhouse – LONDON (SOLD OUT)
03.10.25 – Roundhouse – LONDON (SOLD OUT)
04.10.25 – Albert Hall – MANCHESTER (SOLD OUT)