Beta Maximo

Reviews

Beta Maximo Último Asalto cassette

As is more often than not the case, Knuckles on Stun brings us yet another absolute smash hit! BETA MAXIMO is a wildly prolific garage punk band from Spain with more releases than some bands have songs. Eight catchy and driving tracks, most of which are pushed over the top by having almost sickeningly poppy synth licks. I absolutely love this! I truly hope that my Spanish not being very good might mean there is a chance that Último Asalto is not the band’s way of telling us that this is their final release. If that is the case, then I really hope I am of the lucky 25 people to get a copy of the forthcoming BETA MAXIMO discography cassette on Knuckles on Stun, as that is the standard amount that label makes of each of their releases (this one included), so get one while you can.

Beta Maximo A Cuchillo cassette

BETA MAXIMO is the moniker for Javier Sánchez, a one-man operation who has been cranking out recordings for a good three years now, earning a spot in the wave of synth punk that has been showing up stateside from Europe. Where a band like CUIR takes synth pop and jams it full of anthemic punk and Oi! influences, or fellow Spaniards  ZERO AZÚCAR very successfully blend it with pop punk sensibilities, BETA MAXIMO is more fixated in the early, robotic aura of early synth-pop and the work of absolute genre godfathers DEVO. From the delivery of (and effects on) the vocals, to leaning into the kind of synthesizer sounds that make you think of early keyboards and boxy robots, the result is pretty interesting. That’s not to say you’ll miss the guitars and punk rhythm as they are well-represented, but the emphasis is what differentiates this project in a good way. That same tendency may rob the songs of some of the catchiness of other current proponents of the “punk + Casio” sound, but proves effective regardless. US tape release of a digital EP cranked out in 2024.