The Beggars

The Beggars occupy a Saturday night niche between wiry new wave and hyper electric guitar. The Royal Oak quintet (with lead a singing drummer!) gives you your money’s worth on 9 From 5; though it’s billed as an EP, all nine of these songs have something to offer, whether dynamically or as fuel for barroom foot tapping. “50 Foot Tall” is all crunchy Romantics riff and harmony vocals; “Oh Yeah!” reaches into the Nuggets box for its fuzzy stomp and handclaps; and they even get away with including a hard-driving band introduction theme song. (The latter probably makes more sense live, but still.) “Right on Time” and “Those Things” depart from the full-color six-string crowd pleasers, but offer an alternate view for anyone — girls, they probably hope — looking for the Beggars’ softer side. Dig the Rickenbacker chimes, dudes.

—Johnny Loftus - Johnny Loftus

… On their debut ep A Heap O Livin', The Beggars have distilled the essence of the garage movement in just four tracks of stripped-down, retro-fied, invigorated rock. They make the best use of vintage instruments like a Farfisa organ and Rickenbacker twelve-string electric to create a sound that reminds me of heyday bands like The Archies, The Kinks or Paul Revere & The Raiders. But The Beggars go a step further and infuse their music with the energy of "New Wave" punkers like The Cure & The Clash, especially on track four, "Right On Time". Most importantly, they've captured the verve that's been missing from "modern rock" and spawned the backlash known as "garage" in the first place…
Mitch Phillips (Michiganbands.com)
- Mitch Phillips

Royal Oak-based rock band, the Beggars, are on a mission in their own mind. While not an uncommon ambition, their brand of high-energy garage rock is the stuff of which rock 'n' roll dreams are made.

Listeners will probably will hear their influences -- the Stooges and Buzzcocks, Sonic Youth and The Beatles -- intertwined with a genuine Detroit-city sound, paving the way to a musical foundation that's as solid as bedrock...Drummer and lead vocalist, Joey Senac, sums it up when he says, "We all had the same mind-set to create stripped down, high-energy rock music, without any of the frills or excess baggage."

Along with former Spider the Cat guitarist-songwriter, Juan Epstien (a.k.a. Skins), and Jon Wilkins doing the same, including keyboards, the Beggars forge ahead with a sound nicely rounded out by lead guitarist Jimmy Hansard and bassist Keith Thompson, who follow Joe Senac's quick, taut pace in a jerking motion, like a lasso on a doggie.

Formed less than two years ago, it soon became clear that the Beggars had the sort of chemistry seldom found in your typical local rock star wannabes, with enough heavy dynamics to wake the dead.

The Beggars serve up the recipe for letting loose with mind-numbing energy that's the essence of what rock 'n' roll is all about. Give the Beggars a listen, and the song writing will set you free.


- PT Quinn