
The Beths have written some of the best power-pop in recent years. The band from Auckland, New Zealand — consisting of Liz Stokes (vocals/guitar), Jonathan Pierce (guitar), Ben Sinclair (bass) and Tristan Deck (drums) — has so far put out three albums of perfectly crafted, insanely catchy guitar music, headed up by Stokes’ conversational and introspective lyricism. It’s been a pretty straightforward formula, and while they’ve gotten better and better, they’ve rarely strayed very far from it.