After 25 years, Bettie Serveert is still playing quite a bit. In the 90s the Dutch formation achieved about everything you could expect from an indie band. Those highlights have been behind us for years in 2016, without diminishing the strength of the quartet. The 11th album Damaged Good proves this with verve. The group around sounds as eager as before and comes up with plenty of new ideas. For
… every expected melodic rocker, Bettie Serveert's specialty, there is an unexpected moment. Opposite the excellent repetition exercise Whatever Happens is the dark experiment Brother (in Lions). The more than seven minutes long Digital Sin is balanced with the ultra-short songs Brickwall and Mouth of Age. Sometimes things go wrong, like with the lackluster fake horns on album opener B-Cuz. That is part of taking risks. Thanks to the courage to deviate from familiar paths, Bettie Serveert sounds young and vital on Damaged Good. That has sometimes been different. (JE)more
