Choosing the Spanish moniker for one of the world's greatest pastimes, Béisbol is Portland brother duo Jeff and Ryan Burian who premiere their inner regards with “That Feeling”. Combining their complimenting talents, the two siblings turn their game of catch into a sophisticated collaboration of 80s affections reminiscent to the silk dance soundtracks heard in the Burian household a few decades back. These anachronistic attitudes should come as no surprise to those familiar with Ryan's illuminated Lite-Brite pastiche project, 1980sprince, but Jeff attributes the Béisbol style to making whatever sounds they want in the melting pot of the Northwest:
“Having relocated from Southern California two years ago, we've come to realize most of the bands around Portland have a pretty similar back story. We're a bunch of transplants, here to make music in a cool city. This place is a musical melting pot, with everybody pretty much doing whatever the hell they want. We've got psych rockers, folk troubadours, garage punks, metal heads, and club kids, and that list barely scratches the surface. 'That Feeling' falls somewhere in the middle of all that. Because how do you pick just one sound when you're inspired by so many? This is the sound of Béisbol doing what we love. Whatever the hell we want.”
The Burian brothers know all about these feelings of needs and wants. In the sultry-sulk from the the synthesizers, the introspective reflections move from the exhausted surveys of the self toward correlating empathetic assessments. “I'm tired of feeling lonely, you know I'm tired of feeling strange, I work myself up just to keep on feeling, I put myself down just to feel sane”, where the feelings are mirrored with, “I can tell you're tired of feeling empty, you say you're tired of feeling strange, you work yourself up with the thought of leaving, you worked yourself down then you're back again”. The comparative lyrical notes of tiresome exercises express desires to move past the love, past speaking easy and beyond the defeatist cycles of “giving in and giving up”. But despite the laundry list of grievances and misgivings, Jeff and Ryan never grow tired of the keyboard zaps and dance break opportunities that keeps the party hovering between a production recorded somewhere in 1979-89. The sound of being 'over-it' never sounded so seductive and serene.
The Béisbol debut full-length Lo-Fi Cocaine will be available June 25.
