On "Heroes to Zeros," their third and considerably less-goofy LP, Edinburgh's puckish loners The Beta Band deliver more eclectic, off-kilter pop, but from a point much closer to the center than kaleidoscopic EPs of yore. Where past output spun around a double-helix of acoustic riffs and digital effluvia, "Heroes to Zeros" sees electric guitars and actual song structures cutting through the haze. On "Assessment," postpunk chord progressions lead to a honking brass blast, and "Liquid Bird" flirts with metal before the strings swoop in.
The Betas loathe the "trip-hop hippie" image early singles earned them, but tracks like "Wonderful" and "Space Beatle" retain enough stratospheric strumming and sampling to remind us of their cloud-dwelling days. It's unclear whether the album title refers to their fears or aspirations, but what's in a number, anyway?