Returned to St. Louis after a year or so away in the Northwest, Beeman has reformed the band, adding drummer John Joerns (of Fattback) on drums, Mike Cracchiolo on bass and Christian Schaeffer on keys. Though the sound of Old Lights is frequently lush, with layers of piano, organ and guitars -- Beeman has been an in-demand sound engineer, after all -- his strongest suit is songwriting, which shows a knack for McCartneyesque tunefulness and a honest lyricism that seems to come from a genuine place inside
The band recently released its debut album, Every Night Begins the Same. In an RFT blog post, Annie Zaleski described the sound this way: "Tunes on its MySpace page include well-constructed, heartfelt indie rock indebted to Okkervil River, early Rilo Kiley and the Smiths. When -- and it's not an if -- the big fancy music blogs elsewhere discover Old Lights, Saint Louisans can be proud to say the band is from here."
