“All songs by Elizabeth Stokes
Arranged by The Beths
Production, mixing and engineering by Jonathan Pearce”
There’s an entire story lodged within that simple three-line set of credits, found in the booklet for Jump Rope Gazers, the second studio album from New Zealand power-pop quartet The Beths.
The story these lines summarize is that this lineup—Elizabeth Stokes (lead vocals, guitar), Jonathan Pearce (lead guitar, vocals), Benjamin Sinclair (bass, vocals) and Tristan Deck (drums, vocals)—has an uncanny gift for bringing Stokes’ clever, insightful, moving songs to technicolor life. It’s a genuine band, with each player fully invested, and a deeply sympathetic producer at the boards, and it shows.
Album opener “I’m Not Getting Excited” enters full force, with Pearce’s chunky, aggressive, slightly distorted guitar punctuated by Sinclair and Deck, then topped with Stokes’ delicate, anxious lead vocal. When the rhythm section kicks in full force, it’s pure propulsion of the sweetest kind. The contrast as Stokes sings of trying to rein in her emotions while the music flails and careens underneath is chef’s kiss.
“Dying To Believe” packs an equivalent punch, full of energy and clever changes, breakdowns and drop-outs that keep the listener on your toes. It’s also another number where Stokes shows off her true gift as a vocalist; she can switch from gentle and vulnerable to fierce and forceful on a dime. When you pair that with a band with this kind of skill, precision, and commitment to these songs, it’s a beautiful thing. Don’t take my word for it; check out the second half of the song, featuring a drop out to a pumping rhythm section that leads into a cascade of vocal harmonies and a fresh breakdown / turnaround into the final chorus. 
The title track features ringing, gently reverbed guitar and superb harmonies behind Stokes’ luminous lead vocal, rich with longing and vulnerability (“I think I love you and I want to give it my best try”). Adrenalin reasserts with “Acrid,” the ringing, fuzzed-out guitar nicely counterpointing Stokes’ yearning lyric about trying to act casual while big feelings lurk just under the surface. The wistful “Do You Want Me Now” finds Stokes singing “Long distance is the wrong distance” over melancholy chords as a harmony-rich arrangement serves the song beautifully.
“Out Of Sight” is another master class in arranging and performance, with Pearce and Stokes balancing their guitars, one lilting and the other beefy, over creative, expansive rhythm section work underneath. When you add Stokes’ superb lead vocal—balancing beauty and power as if mirroring the twin guitars—the result is a genuine work of art.
Lightening things up a bit, “Don’t Go Away” delivers a classic power-pop opening with chunky guitars that fall back and blaze forward again and again, as Stokes delivers a punchy, catchy ode to obsessive friendship-bordering-on-stalking. The kiss-offy “Mars, The God Of War” leads with more jangle and drop-outs; it's melodic and punchy and the choruses explode with the kind of headlong quality and harmony work that you associate with quality power pop.
Approaching the close, “You Are A Beam Of Light” is appropriately luminous, featuring acoustic guitar and a double-tracked Stokes lead vocal that starts out laconic before blossoming into one of her finest as she offers support a stretched-thin friend. Closer “Just Shy Of Sure” has a lilting, thrummy arrangement that—as is the case with so many of these songs—effectively mirrors the mood and emotional tenor of the lyric.
The uncertainty and vulnerability at the core of the latter song is in fact central to Stokes’ entire songwriting persona. These are songs about not knowing what comes next and how that feels. It’s both unsettling and full of possibility, with moments of melancholy interspersed with others of surprising joy.
Demonstrating a craft and intelligence not many bands possess on only their second album, Jump Rope Gazers is a tremendous showcase for a band whose talents don’t appear to have any ceiling; hard as it is to imagine, they’ve only gotten better since this album came out. Long live The Beths.