Though U.K. critic Simon Reynolds pointed to New York City duo Bowery Electric as a prime example of American post-rock back in '95, the long view is somewhat skewed. Bowery principals Martha Schwendener and Lawrence Chandler never noodled around with the jazz or dub accents that later defined post-rock paragons such as Tortoise and the Sea And Cake. Bowery Electric wrote long, lingering compositions with murky bass, keyboards and vocals; the beats resembled a metronome heard through a thick fog. The haunting ambience of Beat fit somewhat with the then-popular Massive Attack and Portishead, but the album's subsonic drone made it more of a minimal mood piece than a collection of songs. Still, when the beat is isolated to its murmuring bass vibrations on "Without Stopping," it's as astonishing a trick as anything DJ Shadow ever pulled. - Magnet

When Bowery Electric released their self-titled debut a couple years back, it was a fairly standard (but slightly higher in quality than standard) drone/shoegazer disc. Although they sort of rocked out on one song, the main focus of the 9-song release was on swirling guitars and the beautiful vocals of Martha Schwendener. Although the changes are kind of subtle on Beat, they make a ton of difference, and in my opinion move the group onto another level. Instead of going with the standard percussion on the disc (one member of the band left after the recording of their first disc), the now-duo turned to programmed beats (hence, the title most likely) and keyboards and in turn sound something like Seefeel with a bit of an extra kick. When I say that the group has turned to programmed beats, its not as if they've gone 120 BPM. Instead, they've found a nice middle ground that helps to give their songs that little extra something without being too overpowering. The album-titled first track starts out with almost a minute of downtime, but soon a repetitive loping beat (with even a bit of crackling static left in for good measure) starts in before Schwendener starts with her floating vocals. Over the course of 10 songs (including a couple nice instrumentals that act as sort of a glue holding everything together, the disc creates a dreamy, slight atmosphere with slow, subtle beats, swirling guitars, and light vocals. While it isn't really anything new, it sort of feels like it. It's a nice integration of the spacey-rock stuff with a dab of electronic stuff thrown in for good measure. Fans of the 4AD label would probably gobble this sort of stuff up, as well as anyone who likes aforementioned Seefeel, Slowdive, or Windy and Carl. A great follow-up disc by a relatively new band. - Almost Cool

Last year, New York City's Bowery Electric released its debut album, a wash of stretched-out guitar tones and hypnotic rhythms that were full of suggestion but sometimes lacked an unnamed additional factor, something that would set the group apart from the growing numbers of bands messing around in similar sonic playgrounds. Since then, the band's core members bassist Martha Schwendener and guitarist Lawrence Chandler, who both sing and play keyboards - have gone through the proverbial cast of drummers, which turns out to have been a creative boon for the duo, at least as far as their second album, Beat, goes. Freed from the constant pulses of a live drummer, the two have turned to electronic drumbeats and more pliable song structures, with bass lines and looped sounds fulfilling the primary rhythmic function. Feeding off the creative hotbed of contemporary electronic music, Bowery Electric is one of a handful of bands merging the once distinct "electronic" and "rock" categories. The band's shift in direction is apparent from the first few minutes of the lengthy introductory cut, "Beat," which incorporates a slowed-down hip-hop rhythm track and some scratchy analog noises, which shift around a gloomy bass line. Things become clearer on "Fear Of Flying," which seems to pick up where My Bloody Valentine's "Glider" left off, joining guitar sounds, mutated by what's surely a row of effects, with an electronic rhythm, while a thick, repetitive bass line rumbles beneath and Schwendener's soft coos are just audible below the surface. Also electrifying: "Empty Words" and "Black Light." - Lydia Anderson, CMJ

Somewhat bizarrely, Beat received a large amount of critical buzz over its supposedly groundbreaking fusion of hip-hop/techno rhythms and the band's older dream pop stylings. Anyone who had heard Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine or a fair amount of Chapterhouse's material probably had some things to say about that judgment, while in turn many dance mavens saw the band's efforts as already terribly outdated in terms of general sonic approach. Set all this aside and concentrate on enjoying Beat in and of itself, though, and the fine qualities of both group and album come through quite clearly. Bowery Electric may not be on the cutting edge, but Schwendener and Chandler aren't pretending to dwell there. The title track sets the album's tone from the start, an open-ended guitar drone from Chandler later accompanied by Schwendener's low-key bass and distanced singing matched with a crisp drum loop. Variations on this basic formula throughout Beat: slight rhythms are sometimes more prominent, sometimes buried, guitar lines are clearer here or more heavily produced there -- but taken as a whole the release is quietly intoxicating. Standouts include "Fear of Flying," with a strong guitar scream/wash from Chandler and a more upfront bass/drum combination, and the thoroughly but beautifully zoned out "Black Light," which features a rare Chandler vocal and an enveloping delay-pedal-produced atmosphere. Notably, the drumming on the latter track is more in line with, say, early Pink Floyd or Slowdive rather than the loops used elsewhere. Both performers are incredibly undemonstrative throughout the album -- Beat works best as something either totally concentrated on or left running as ambient music; a party record this isn't. At times Bowery Electric eschew percussion entirely, to lovely effect: "Under the Sun" is a brief but dark piece, a low bassline providing the only forward motion. - Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

"With their now familiar sense of economy apparent in the arrangements, Beat finds Bowery Electric adding layers of analog synth and sampled guitars to their 'drone n' bass' foundations, along with programmed loops and live beats; further befuddling those Luddites still wondering whether the band is rock, post rock, ambient or dance." Stolen off the internet, summing things up: "Beat is a STUNNING record. A truly seamless meeting of their dreamy glacial drift, the muscle of the first (Loop-ish) 2x7", and the overpowering dub-erotic feel of Mad Professor/Massive Attack. Organic, metallic, and icy/hot. A compendium of contradictions which is one of the sweetest listens you'll hear all year. They certainly deserve the 'drone & bass' tag -- but don't expect Jenkinson breaks. The electronic elements are kept simpler (and buried)." --G Man II.