he Beatings create intelligent, guitar-driven art-rock, hailing back to the early 80’s heyday of college music. The Beatings have forged an idiosyncratic path through independent rock. DIY since their formation in Boston in 1999, they have thus far booked four national tours and released five recordings through their imprint, Midriff Records. Their 2002 debut, Italiano, was picked as the fifth best album of the year by the Washington Post, calling it “a must for anyone particularly gloomy about the shape of rock to come.” Neither punk nor alternative, The Beatings’ melancholic lyrics, scream-sung counterpoint harmonies and hair-raising guitar leads often earn them comparisons to Hüsker Dü, Mission of Burma and the Pixies. Dissonant vocals and roaring power chords front a pummeling, thunderous rhythm section that swings unexpected shifts in tempo and turns The Beatings’ songs on a dime. In the summer of 2004, The Beatings recorded their fifth album, Holding on to Hand Grenades, with renown indie-rock producer Paul Q. Kolderie. The Washington Post compares Holding on to Hand Grenades to the Arcade Fire, Hüsker Dü, Superchunk and the Pixies, and states “vibrant energy and carefree post-punk zeal move the Beatings well past their more prominent influences.” The Denver Post says the album “leaves you with the feeling that The Beatings are ready to annihilate the world's post-punk poseurs, even if they have to do it with a heavy heart.”