Before the pandemic hit, I had planned on seeing The Beths in Hollywood at The Zebulon. Everything shut down, the tour was canceled, and I was left sitting at home disappointed. Two and a half years later and the time has finally come! I arrived at The Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA just before 8. A comforting and welcoming venue with a tavern aesthetic that sits just off the coast. Support act, Rosie Tucker, was expected to take the stage at 8. but it wasn't until 8:20 or so that I noticed 3 people crowded around the soundboard.

After a few more minutes, it became apparent that the night was being plagued by technical difficulties. By 9 o'clock, people around me were beginning to wonder if the issues would be resolved. Around 9:20 or so, twenty minutes after The Beths were scheduled to perform, the crew working on the issues got things up and running.

Rosie Tucker did a quick soundcheck, and then she and her band blistered through a shortened set to make up for lost time and try to get back on a schedule.

The Beths walked out to cheers just a little past 10 as they jumped into "I'm Not Getting Excited" from their 2020 release, Jump Rope Gazers. However, there was kind of a sense of bitterness in the room during the first few songs. After The Beths took a moment to explain the sound system issues, the air felt like it cleared and the mood shifted for the better. Fans seemed to start dancing and singing along more which in turn seemed to make the band enjoy themselves more.

They continued to play through classics from their first LP like "You Wouldnt Like Me" and "Great No One" as well as playing new songs like the title track from their upcoming album, Expert in a Dying Field, and the not-yet-released, "Knees Deep."

I was a little concerned about their set being cut short due to the late start time, but the band filled the set with each album's fair share of songs, even throwing in, "Just Shy a Sure" -- a deep cut from Jump Rope Gazers as well as still taking the time to share some banter like how lucky they are to be soaking in the Summer sun while everyone in their homeland of New Zealand is dealing with Winter weather.

As they inched closer to the end, Liz Stokes announced they wouldn't be following the age-old tradition of leaving the stage for an encore and instead would just play through their set. By the time the band hit the riveting 2020 single, "Dying to Believe," the audience was all in. Whatever restlessness that may have been present at the start of the set was gone and the fans were participating in the call-and-responses and bouncing around the dance floor in full force. After a short cool down with "You Are a Beam of Light," The Beths closed the night with fan favorite, "Little Death."

After a rough start to the night, The Beths finished the night with arms raised in triumph and the crowd left happy. Thanks to the help of the sound crew, even The Beths' own, Jonathan Pearce joining in to help solve the problem, a patient Tuesday night crowd, and The Beths' energy and drive, the night ended with smiles and satisfaction.

The Beths' North American tour is only getting started. Be sure to check out their new album, Expert in a Dying Field -- due out September 16th on Carpark.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer – Your Mates Brewing

Mateship is an intrinsic part of the Australian cultural fabric and an important national value, as is Australia’s love for beer, so would be more obvious to conjure a name like Your Mates Born when in 2014 ago a bunch of friends conceived the idea to channel their alchemy in the creation of accessible craft beers in a bid to celebrate the simple pleasures in life.

Eight years later Your Mates has evolved from a coastal gypsy brewing style garage operation to one of Australia’s more popular independent beer companies.

My first exposure to Your Mates range was via their Sally IPA, which constitutes the first female addition to their cast of characters that their liquid emissions are named after.

Sally is not exactly subtle as she is a West Coast style IPA that derives its punchy floral aromas with piney and citrussy highlights from a heady melange of El Dorado, Simcoe, Citra and Chinook hops. Clocking in at 6% ABV, Sally proves to be a borderline ideal companion for an early BBQ session.

Things get interesting with Your Mates’ Red IPA as the hops do not take over the show but dance closely with caramel malt notes against a backdrop of a delicately balanced bitterness, without any ingredient claiming dominance. With its chewy mouthfeel and resinous piney highlights flanking toffee and butterscotch flavours, it makes for a rich and full-bodied brew. Delicious.

On the more exotic end of the spectrum of Your Mates’ portfolio, however, is their recent limited release known as Karen’s Shandy which despite being named after what has become the personification of white woman privilege, flavour-wise I find to be one of the more interesting creations I have recently sourced from a brewery. 

More akin to home-made lemonade in nature, we find ourselves knee deep in refreshingly  sour, citrussy and tarty territory, which is rounded out by culminating in a sweet, sassy molassy finish that leaves one lusting for another sip. The top of my mouth was celebrating as I paired it with a dram of cask strength Bunnahabhain.

Given the quality of Your Mates’ releases, which are complemented by a formidable merch range, I am looking forward to more of their experimental releases and can only hope that they will try their hand at Double and Triple IPAs in the foreseeable future.

Audio = Ground Zero

A deep dive into JBL’s headphone range

When it comes to running or more vigorous types of exercise, there are few things that are more of a buzzkill than ill-fitting earbuds that will not stay out of your way or cause more distraction than sonic motivation. 

An ideal pair of workout earbuds fits firmly yet comfortably, is resistant to water and sweat, has easy to use controls and can also be used to take the occasional ill-timed call.

After quite a bit of trial of error, I found a pair that ticks quite a few of the aforementioned boxes, i.e. JBL’s Endurance Peak II, which not only comes with hooks to ensure a secure fit but has comprehensive touch controls. Despite being located in an affordable price bracket, they do not lack in the sound performance department either – au contraire, they add a welcome hint of bass without running danger of muddying the mid-range.

Sturdy in appearance and with a solidly compact and slightly oversized case, which is bisected with a seam, this set of IPX7 rated earphones comes equipped with JBL’s Power Hook technology, i.e. by separating the hook tails from the core unit, the buds are activated and triggered to pair with your device of choice. Once the connection has been established, going forward the same process will establish an immediate connection.

A definite plus of the JBL Endurance Peak 2 and one of the many reasons that make them a formidable workout buddy is the fact that they do not necessitate a whole lot of fiddling around to work the controls as well as their reliability when it comes to faithfully maintaining a connection via Bluetooth, supporting both AAC and SBC,  without getting confused by the plethora of other peripherals that are usually present in a gym context

As far as battery performance is concerned, the JBL Endurance Peak 2 lasted me over six hours per single charge and once the accompanying USB-C case is fully charged after two hours, provides an additional four charge cycles, making it a total of more than thirty hours of playtime without the need for an electric outlet.

With its oblong shaped ear tips, the JBL Endurance Peak 2 isolates nicely, effortlessly managing to keep undesired noises at bay and with its microphone system, calls can be taken in both mono and stereo modes. While I would not necessarily use them for business calls due to their average intelligibility, they do an okay job.

Summa summarum, the JBL Endurance Peak 2 is a smart, well performing and -  priced below $100 - a very affordable choice in the workout focussed earbuds range with all the features needed and most importantly the stability, water / sweat resistance, intuitive touch controls and secure fit I have been looking for the longest time.

Aight, let’s leave the confinements of workout earbuds and enter high fidelity territory, shall we?

If you are a dedicated music afficionado, your criteria pertaining to Bluetooth headphones will certainly be bit more sophisticated, which is where JBL’s new Tour One come into play. 

Having used my over-the-ear Bose headphones for international travel for the last decade accumulated a fair bit of wear and tear, it was high time for a replacement and upgrade in terms of functionality.

Housed in a hard-shell zipper case with utensils like an airplane adapter, a flat USB-C cable, and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm headphone cable, the feathery light and symmetrical shaped Tour Ones come with a subtle, slightly understated design.

Featuring volume, on/off, Bluetooth buttons, the audio input jack, and a tiny microphone grille on the right and customizable function buttons and the USB-C charging port correspondingly on the last side, things are arranged in an intuitive manner.

The headband, which is metal and sandwiched in a melange of faux leather and memory foam, can be fitted to both large and delicate gullivers, with the ability for the earcups to swivel inward if need be.

Now, how do the Tour Ones sound?

Stating that they sound “balanced” would be an understatement par excellence, as they do a fantastic job – both, wired and connected via Bluetooth – with exceptional clarity and sound layering / separation giving prominence to finer nuances with an emphasis on the mid-range with the option to customized EQ settings via the easy-to-navigate JBL Headphones app.

The fact that the earcups are slightly bigger than comparable models, makes the Tour Ones comfortable to wear from the get go and the ability to intuitively switch between multiple audio source devices by simply toggling the Bluetooth button downward is a welcome feature. 

As far as the touch sensitive controls are concerned, it could not be easier to summon voice assistance and again seamlessly move between truly adaptive noise cancellation, Ambient Aware and Talk Thru level modes.

What I love about the Tour Ones is the lightning fast charge time and the extended battery life: Charging for fifteen minutes gives you close to four hours of audio pleasure and if you go for the full round of two hours, it will result in keeping you immersed in sound for more than two days, given that True Adaptive Noise Cancelling is not activated as otherwise it is halved to a respectable twenty-five hours, with the automatic off function ensuring that they won’t be drained when not in use.

Essentially, the Tour Ones are more than a worthy investment if you are in the market for a comfortable, high performing, superior noise-cancelling model with enhanced audio fidelity that is easy on the eye with its classy vibe.

Yet another example of how JBL caters to the whole claviature of audio products.

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images from company website

Thus Let Us Drink Beer – Stoic Brewing

Per definitionem, being stoic means being in congruence with the truthfulness of one’s world view and accepting it as a guideline for arranging one’s life, irrespective of how it makes one feel.

Applying and transferring this ancient Greek philosophical approach to the brewing of craft beers, it’d mean that time and effort is invested into researching each stage of the process before creating envelope pushing new styles based on new as well as tested and tried quality ingredients in a bid to achieve perfection with each emission, while embracing each facet of the process.

Enter Stoic Brewing, an operation founded four years ago by a father and son duo in the idyllic little town of Gerringong, New South Wales. 

What started out with the vision to create a community space centered around the appreciation of locally brewed craft beers, has evolved to a veritable brewery with a team united by the vision to the creation of handcrafted, quality craft beer.

My first exposure to Stoic Brewing’s range was via their hazy Oat Cream IPA, which upon approach tickles the nostrils with ripe banana and vanilla aromas, followed by a tad bit of oats, however, well calibrated and not as oaty as I would have expected. 

On the top of the mouth, the cereal creaminess of this little number materializes via sugary sweetness, hints of caramel and a delicate bitterness, which makes it a sweet and creamy brew that proves easy to drink.

Taking things to the next level is Stoic Brewing’s big, citrussy IIPA. 

On the nose I got pine, resin and orange peel, with malt taking on a supporting role rather than centre stage.

The well harmonized flavour profile is led by fruity hop of citrus and comes with a nice layer of soft effervescence and mild to moderate carbonation. The feeling is crisp and well-rounded with a pleasantly dry, slightly bitter finish that makes it dangerously moreish with its ABV of 8%.

Things get interesting and a bit more exotic with Stoic’s Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout.

While I am usually not the biggest fan of stouts, there are few better scenarios than the current rainy winter season to treat oneself with a dram of Octomore 10.2 and a warming brew with a velvety mouthfeel, offering chocolate and vanilla bean aromas before subtle spices derived from from ancho and pasilla peppers aid in building up the flavour experience with each sip.

Welcome back to another playlist.

As usual when I'm the one behind this piece, this list contains 10 songs that have hit me in various ways, all connected to working at Scene Point Blank.

The majority were things I've reviewed, but some it's not just that. We're currently transcribing an interview with one of these bands. A couple others simply sent us their records but we never formally covered them because time is limited but we enjoyed what we heard.

So give a listen and maybe find something new to enjoy (or complain about).