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cub - Betti-Cola (1993)

Artist: cub

Author: Sarah

Date: 05/24/2026

Listen: Apple Music | Bandcamp | Spotify

The first few times I heard Betti-Cola, I honestly kinda thought it seemed like a lesser version of Beat Happening. Of course, now I listen to Betti-Cola a lot and hardly ever listen to Beat Happening, so I guess cub got the last laugh after all.

The two bands really are fairly similar; they both play rudimentary, vaguely-early-60s-ish pop music, which sort of sounds like the soundtrack to a beach party. On the other hand, Calvin Johnson's inarticulate voice helps in creating an image of someone who's confused and scared by looming adulthood, whereas Lisa Marr's voice is so sweet that even the relatively darker songs here still feel inviting.

I'm not sure what exactly changed in me over the years that made me more receptive to that invitation from Lisa, but lately I think I'd actually call her my favorite singer in all of indiepop. She's got this sort of wide-eyed wonder to her voice that goes perfectly with the nursery rhyme imagery of songs like "Go Fish" or "Little Star", while still managing to put just enough venom into it to make songs like "It's True" or "My Assassin" seem credible.

In all honesty, Betti-Cola is probably cub's weakest album musically, lyrically, and maybe even vocally? And yet, there's an energy to it that the pop punk of their later albums can't quite match. I don't know if I could name exactly what it is that makes this album so great, but I'm pretty sure it's connected to the fact that it's one of the rare albums to give me the impression that even I could make music if I really tried?