Oblivion Access Interview: SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
Philly trio's sound "comes from a deep well of confusion and fear"
By Wayne Lim, Fri., June 9, 2023
Meandering through buzzing electronics, hypnotic atmospherics, and ethereal vocals obscured by grating distortion, piecing together a multihyphenated subgenre proves pointless for Philadelphia trio SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE.
"Whenever we go through the Canadian border, the border police always ask us what kind of music we play and I always am nervous and I always say something like 'rock music' but that seems to be a fine answer," emails bassist/vocalist Rivka Ravede, two weeks ahead of a seven-stop tour looping through Southern states.
The group's 2021 album ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH tracks 11 compositions of fuzzy, vaporwave tendencies. A preluding 50-second bombardment of screeching noise reclaims the now 10-year-old band's earlier stumbling experiments with newfound intention, challenging listeners to earn their fourth full-length record.
"Zack and I just wanted to be oppressively loud in the beginning but half the room would end up leaving most of the time during those first shows," reflects Ravede. "Eventually we realized there wasn't really a point to being that loud. We definitely have changed a lot from the start of the band but in a way I think we've maintained the same MO through the years."
Beneath layers of sonic textures, Ravede's musicmaking "comes from a deep well of confusion and fear."
"Thematically it's about consumption. At least from my perspective," writes Ravede about ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH. "About pleasure creating a spiritual bankruptcy."
Even barring its crude title, penultimate track "I Suck the Devil's Cock" raises eyebrows in a voyage through feverish beats, psychedelic dreaminess, astral atmospherics, and a gentle keys-led postlude. To that end, Ravede agrees it captures the heart of the record.
"It kind of accidentally has a cohesive thesis from Zack, Corey and me writing our lyrics separately. It ends up that way a lot weirdly," explains Ravede. "The meaning is in the title. Very literally."
