Howie Beck’s fourth record is, apparently, the first recorded outside his bedroom and man, does it tell. Taking on a more cinematic angle, How to Fall Down in Public, is a record that combines major label-era Elliott Smith with the soulful slickness of Brendan Benson.
But remember, slick is not a synonym for perfect, and the airbrushed sleekness of this record can be a little galling. ‘Watch Out for the Fuzz’ is an inoffensive opening, but the shuffling bassline shares its lineage with Meredith Brookes’ ‘I’m A Bitch’ at least in passing, leaving something of a sour taste.
‘Flashover’ sweetens things up, evoking the effortless longing of Ed Harcourt, as back-porch banjos are pitted against finger snapping and a magnificent, brass-bound chorus. Beck’s vocal is lovelorn and lost, but uplifting with it and none more so than on ‘Don’t Put Your Arms Around Me No More’.
There is a sense of the dramatic here; Beck’s vocal is driven by shuffling percussion as his melancholia is achingly beautiful in the season of decay.
As the lilting country-lite of ‘Over and Under’ kicks in, Beck evokes the spirit of Arthur Russell in his most hicked-up state. Slide guitars lay across a lonesome vocal, before giving way to a chorus straight from a Rat-Pack tribute show. It’s this collision of culture, the calculated risk Beck performs, that makes the record so compelling. True, this might sound so well rounded you’ll be worried it could roll out of view, but How to Fall Down in Public is a polished record in the most positive sense.
As if to hammer the point home of being an alt. pop gem, Leslie Feist rears her lovely head on ‘La La La’ with typically luscious backing vocals behind Beck’s shuffling guitar. It is here allusions to Elliott Smith are (almost) justified.
How to Fall Down in Public is a record that will make you swoon, at times it’s guilty of being overly polished but somehow, as the record progresses it becomes less of an issue. Sure, there’s a clash of style and substance here but somehow Beck keeps a hand in with both. This isn’t perfect, ‘Beside this Life’ makes sure of that, but it’s a record to cherish. Now he’s out of the bedroom, Howie Beck’s got something to show the world.
Will Metcalfe