Boston, MA's The Beatings create intelligent, guitar-driven art-rock, hailing back to the early 80's heyday of college rock. Building on a solid foundation of pop hooks and punk sensibilities, The Beatings craft anthems that are alternately literate, visceral, and melancholic. The Heart, the Product, the Machine and the Asshole (2003, EP) is the latest offering from this prolific and increasingly varied team of songwriters. An odd, dark take on Americana, the band lets their lyrics set the tone. The instrumentation follows suit, creating a moody collection of songs about love, regret, and frustration. The Beatings have forged an idiosyncratic path through independent rock. DIY since their formation in Boston in 1999, they have released three recordings through their imprint, Midriff Records. Beginning with their debut EP 6 Hz in 2001, The Beatings have received nearly unanimous critical praise and have earned comparisons to the Pixies, Husker Du, and Mission of Burma. Their 2002 album Italiano received attention from the New York Times, MOJO, and the Washington Post, which picked it as the fifth best album of the year. Drifting seamlessly from full-on studio production to lo-fi home recordings in a haze of power chords and sonic oddities, Italiano was called a "jarring, ambitious album" by the Boston Globe, and was picked as the fifth best album of the year by the Washington Post, which declared it "Rock as art, not just fun." In August 2004, The Beatings finished recording the follow-up full length to 2002's Italiano, with Paul Q. Kolderie at the production reins. At the present time, the album's title and release date are yet to be determined.