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Betelmire - 606 MPH (2005)

Artist: Betelmire

Author: Sarah

Date: 01/16/2024

Listen: Internet Archive | YouTube

This more bedroom pop type of twee has never really been my thing: not for Frankie Cosmos, not for the Motifs, not even for Sidney Gish. But Betelmire has managed to win me over, somehow.

We've got a keyboard drone, some tambourine to keep the rhythm, and what sounds like a melodica to provide some kind of lead. Then Christy starts to sing; like me, it seems as if she's got a pretty limited vocal range (her voice is still way better than mine, though), but it works. The melodies on this album are pretty simple, as one would expect from twee. Basically each line of a given song follows the same melody, giving it ample time to worm its way into your head. Actually, the artist I'd compare this to most is Megamoog: if you're into "Icicle", you would love this probably.

As described, it's basically just your typical bedroom pop EP. So why does this succeed for me while others fail? Well for starters, it's from 2005, compared to 2008 for "Icicle" or Cross Paths or 2014 for Zentropy, the releases I tend to mentally compare it to most. But it's not just that, there's something about the sound of Betelmire too. I think it might actually be that, to me, this is the most "bedroom" bedroom pop album, if that makes sense? Someone like Sidney Gish sounds like she's got a band backing her up, but 606 MPH really feels like she's sitting on the floor of her dorm room, whispering just-written lyrics into her microphone because it's the middle of the night and she doesn't want to wake her roommates, but she's just got to get this song recorded before she forgets it.

Listening to Betelmire feels a lot like you're being let in on a secret, and unfortunately, as of the time of writing, it is a secret, more or less. Hopefully one day this will be recognized as the bedroom pop classic that it is.