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Being Dead knows how to make an entrance – within the first several seconds of EELS, the duo’s new

record, the bright, hard-strummed guitar line on “Godzilla Rises” conjures cinematic immediacy, a

creature emerging from the depths of the ocean in campy, freaky stop motion, fittingly so. Being Dead’s

records are mosaics, technicolor incantations, each song its own self-contained little universe. And while

the dreamlike EELS probes further into the depths of the duo Being Dead’s psyche, it is, most importantly,

in the year of our lord 2024, a 16-track record that is genuinely unpredictable from one track to the next: a

joyous and unexpected trip helmed by two true-blue freak bitch besties holed up in a lil’ house in the heart

of Austin, Texas.

They decamped to Los Angeles for two weeks to record with GRAMMY-winning producer John

Congleton, writing songs for the record until days before they left. The radical shift in process was

welcome - a good balance and a challenge, Congleton helping them find new ways to work and helping

peel back the layers on the core of their songwriting. Being Dead has grown from a duo to a trio live,

including bassist Ricky Motto (who is immortalized finally on record here, particularly in the giggles on

“Rock n’ Roll Hurts”)

The resulting EELS is a darker record, tapped more into the devilishness within, but it’s also a more

raucous, rougher ride sonically. There’s heartbreak, excitement, enchantment, dancing – we move through

it all at a high-octane pace. Falcon Bitch and Smoofy never want to do the same thing twice on any song,

and they don’t. From the pummeling garage rock distortion of “Firefighters” to “Dragons II,” which

appears in its demo form taped on a hand recorder, it’s unexpected but intuitive, and, most importantly,

singularly Being Dead.

Like its animal namesake suggests, the songs on EELS are malleable, the record like slithering through

murky waters or strange half dreams, mysterious and beautiful in how it moves, reflective in a wavering

sheen. Dipping into each song feels like uncovering a new cavern, plunging into depths unknown but

fully open to what will be revealed. On the album artwork, an illustration by the artist Julia Soboleva,

there are some weird disparate spectral creatures, a stark glimmer against a cloudy darkness. It’s a fitting

encapsulation of Being Dead, exuding a welcoming, playful energy even if something foreboding lurks

just beyond the pale – more out of frame that’s left to uncover, no path unexplored, strange and beautiful

in the light.