Being Dead EELS
Released Sep 27, 2024 Bayonet Records
Established consensus 10 professional reviews Updated Aug 25, 2026
Broadly positive consensus
Being Dead's EELS
How ChoruScore worksCritics' Top Tracks
The songs critics returned to most
Godzilla Rises
8 critic mentions
“Opening track "Godzilla Rises," for example, has it all: electric guitar chug, male and female voices, unexpected rhythmic shifts, irresistible melodies” — Paste Magazine
Van Goes
7 critic mentions
“Van Goes" fits call-and-response yelps and a motorik beat into an anti-work tune about feeling fed up with modern life” — Paste Magazine
Dragons II
5 critic mentions
“I’m not Prince Charming in Rapunzel’s world," Shmoofy declares on strangely moving highlight “Dragons II,” — Pitchfork
Full critic consensus
Being Dead's EELS
Critics consistently point to several standout tracks as proof points: “Godzilla Rises”, “Firefighters”, “Dragons II”, “Van Goes” and “Nightvision” emerge as the best songs on EELS
While most critics celebrate the record's buoyant chaos and subversive pop-rock melodies, some flag that a 16-track abundance occasionally overwhelms, creating moments where hooks compete with excess. Even so, the critical consensus frames EELS as a confident, inventive follow-up for Being Dead—a collection whose best tracks provide sharp entry points and whose overall energy suggests the band has broadened its palette without losing its scrappy, irreverent core. Scroll down for full reviews and a track-by-track look at the songs critics keep returning to.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Godzilla Rises
Van Goes
Blanket of my Bone
Problems
Firefighters
Dragons II
Nightvision
Gazing at Footwear
Big Bovine
Storybook Bay
Ballerina
Rock n' Roll Hurts
Love Machine
I Was a Tunnel
Goodnight
Lilypad Lane
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What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 10 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Being Dead’s EELS is a phantasmagoria of styles that somehow ties together garage, punk, surf, and neo-psychedelia, and the best songs - notably “Firefighters” and “Van Goes” - showcase that restless inventiveness. Patrick Gill relishes how “Firefighters” “shoots out of a cannon” with fuzzed-out guitar while “Van Goes” paints a lament about dead-end jobs, both exemplifying why these are the best tracks on EELS. The production sequencing by John Congleton is praised for channeling their ideas without flattening them, making the album feel both delightful and demanding. The record’s few missteps are minor; overall it reads like an underappreciated gem that rewards repeated listening.
Key Points
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“Firefighters” is the best song because it encapsulates the band’s fuzzed-out energy and fearless stylistic shifts.
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EELS’s core strength is its seamless pastiche of vintage styles turned into something fresh through strong songwriting and Congleton’s production.
Themes
Critic's Take
Being Dead’s sophomore EELS is raucous fun, unpredictable and catchy, with standouts like “Godzilla Rises” and “Dragons II” proving their knack for quirky hooks and sudden mood shifts. The record revels in half-baked zaniness and garage rock chaos, where “Godzilla Rises” channels Beach Boys-style harmonies into a gloriously strange love song and “Dragons II” becomes an understated lo-fi gem. The band’s collage-like approach turns fragments into purpose, so listeners seeking the best songs on EELS will find the album’s charms in its short, immediate bursts. Immerse yourself and you’ll discover why these tracks stand out amid the carnival of ideas.
Key Points
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“Godzilla Rises” best captures the record’s raucous charm with surfy harmonies and an exciting opening.
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EELS’ core strength is turning half-written riffs and odd fragments into intentionally playful, collage-like songs.
Themes
Critic's Take
Being Dead’s EELS hinges on irresistibly lo-fi hooks and a sense of yearning that makes the best songs - like “Godzilla Rises” and “Blanket of My Bone” - feel both absurd and devastatingly sincere. Daniel Felsenthal’s review savors the duo’s playful, topsy-turvy rock’n’roll, noting how the two voices call and respond to make tracks like “Dragons II” and “Nightvision” feel like centerpiece moments. The record’s charms are small details and big sentiments, so queries about the best tracks on EELS should start with those hooky, emotionally charged songs that stitch humor to genuine feeling. Overall, the album’s motion and verve make its standout songs memorably hooky and thematically wide-ranging without ever feeling small.
Key Points
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The best song is "Godzilla Rises" because its absurdity, humor, and genuine longing encapsulate the album’s emotional range.
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EELS’s core strengths are hooky lo-fi production, dueling vocal interplay, and a nostalgic yet comic reworking of Americana.
Themes
Critic's Take
Being Dead barely reins in its chaos on EELS, and that refusal is the album’s chief delight: the best songs like “Godzilla Rises” and “Firefighters” pair irresistible hooks with gleeful subversion. The review revels in how tracks such as “Blanket of My Bone” and “Van Goes” zig-zag between riotous punk and sunlit harmonies, making them the standout moments. For listeners searching for the best tracks on EELS or the best songs on EELS, the opener and the fuzz-punk highlight repeatedly prove why Being Dead remain defiantly unpredictable. The critic’s tone is admiring and wry, celebrating a band that writes great songs then gleefully pushes them into unexpected places.
Key Points
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The best song is the opener "Godzilla Rises" because it combines irresistible melodies, dynamic shifts, and evocative harmonies into a concise statement.
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The album’s core strengths are genre-mixing, playful irreverence, and bold production that pushes songs into unexpected places.
Themes
Critic's Take
Being Dead's EELSEELS
Key Points
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The best song is driven by the duo's dry vocal interplay and scuzzy hooks, making it an instant standout.
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The album's core strengths are terse, inventive songwriting and confident revival of garage rock signifiers.
Themes
Critic's Take
Being Dead come off like a cow punk Mamas and Papas from space on EELS, and the album's best tracks - notably “Godzilla Rises” and “Firefighters” - capture that exuberant, self-assured chaos. The reviewer leans into the record's buoyant melodies and oddball humor, praising how songs such as “Godzilla Rises” marry giddy hooks with rough-edged personality. Overall the tone is celebratory and amused, highlighting craft and charisma more than polish.
Key Points
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"Godzilla Rises" is best because it crystallizes the album's cow-punk, spacey pop charm into an immediate hook.
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EELS' core strengths are exuberant melodies, oddball humor, and confident band chemistry that prioritize character over polish.
Themes
Critic's Take
Being Dead’s EELS is a strange and delightful dive into psychedelic campfire indie rock, and the reviewer's ear latches onto the best tracks naturally. The standout bite-size thrills of “Firefighters” and “Nightvision” are singled out for flinging memorable hooks into two minutes of song, while “Dragons II” and “Rock n’ Roll Hurts” are praised for capturing ennui and the album’s ear for storytelling. The tone stays appreciative and amused, noting that though EELS may not match last year’s frenzy, its layered colors and crisp-but-raw production make these songs the best tracks on EELS for listeners seeking texture and charm.
Key Points
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“Firefighters” is the best song for its compact, hook-filled two-minute thrill.
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The album’s core strengths are layered, textured production and a balance of earnest storytelling with playful eccentricity.
Themes
Critic's Take
Being Dead return on EELS with a gleeful inventiveness that makes the best songs - notably “Van Goes” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Hurts” - feel both playful and pointed. Lloyd Bolton revels in the band’s knack for two-minute experiments and longer stitched-together pieces, praising how “Van Goes” uses every compositional element and how “Rock ‘n’ Roll Hurts” breaks the fourth wall. The review’s tone stays admiring and amused, noting hooks that sound like jingles and recurring motifs such as the hook from “Big Bovine” that returns later. Overall the critic frames EELS as inventive, grounded and infectiously fun, a modern spin on punk’s anything-goes lesson.
Key Points
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“Van Goes” is best for its complete use of composition, vocal interplay and purposeful details.
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The album’s core strengths are inventive short-form experimentation balanced with more developed, idea-rich songs.
Themes
Fa
Critic's Take
Being Dead retain that scrappy, caffeinated joie de vivre across EELS, and the best songs - “Dragons II” and “Nightvision” - prove they can turn fractured ideas into gorgeous hooks. Tom Taylor’s review revels in the band’s gleeful pile-up of influences, praising moments where charm and melody cut through the chaos. At the same time he warns that at 16 songs the abundance of ideas sometimes overwhelms, yet those standout tracks show where their undeniable promise lies.
Key Points
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‘Dragons II’ is best for its heart-wrenching vocals and haunting intimacy.
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The album’s core strength is its kaleidoscopic hooks and playful, garage-band creativity despite occasional excess.