Being Human Being

Being Human Being (2004)

Jordan Rogowski

At first glance and listen, Being Human Being seems to be, for all intents and purposes, a very straightforward indie rock act. You've got your vocals and guitar, your drums, and your bass. No, no wait, there's actually no bassist; in fact, singer/guitarist Brad Amorosino bears almost the entire weight of these songs on his own two shoulders. The drumming of John Miller is apparent on a few tracks of this self-titled EP, but Amorosino is mostly left up to entertain the listener with just his voice and his electric guitar. And for the most part, this arrangement of sorts translates well into the music, and makes for a decent debut EP.

It's immediately apparent that Amorosino has a great voice for this type of music, a strong one that never comes to the point of being overbearing. And seeing as this band is only a two-piece, being overly complex isn't something that has to be contended with, leaving room to write simple but interesting mid-tempo songs. The tone of the guitar at times reminds me of Knapsack in their later years; rich, but still
with a good amount of bite to it. Miller manages to keep a good tempo with his fairly simple drumming, but this is another spot where complicating things with odd time signatures would just bog down the songs. With this simplicity, Amorosino has ample opportunity to grab the listener's attention with his thoughtful narratives. This is lyrically a fairly strong EP, adding another dimension to the songs.

Somehow, I thought we would stand on the ground / So now, I just want to pull you back down / Run beside the car, but a heart is no match for machine / The grass is overgrown, the lawn is cut back to the green / The walls are painted over old chips and scratches / And once a year they try to dye the river back to bright blue / But cosmetics are a bandage, and I can honestly say I don't have a plan. / I was on the brink, but I overslept it.

That comes from "Cosmetics," which is probably the strongest track to be found on this EP, although at no point in the short 18 minutes this is on does it really have a bad moment. Each track can stand well on its own, and flow just as well with the other songs. This is a fairly impressive debut from Being Human Being, proving that simplicity does not have to make for a boring record. These tracks are engaging, and each have their own strong sense of good songwriting. With a supposed full-length in the works from these guys, I look forward to see the progressions made from here, but this is a solid start nonetheless.