Here’s another salvo from the power-popping, windmill chording, Nuggets-mod-turned-mildly psychedelic Smug Brothers, a four piece out of the heartland’s lo-fi capitol, Columbus, Ohio. We last ran into the band circa 2023’s In the Book of Bad Ideas, observing “Smug Brothers kick up a jangly, tuneful racket, with brash power chords and sweetly rueful lyrics, battering drums and liquid flourishes of guitar.” That’s all still in play but Stuck on Beta kicks harder and daydreams less. It’s melodic guitar pop with the lines drawn in thick black sharpie, nothing cloudy or indefinite about it.
Take the early single, “Sidewalk Champagne,” which cranks a sirening guitar lick and bumps it up with a bounce of bass. High, not-quite-falsetto vocals keen over it all, but don’t soften the tone.