Boys Outside

Without much fanfare, Steve Mason, one of the Britpop generation’s few genuinely brilliant and original songsmiths, has been delivering on the promise of The Beta Band’s ‘The 3 EP’s’ – the masterpiece which introduced his extraordinary talent to the world. The groundbreaking recordings on ‘The Three EP’s’, which were compiled 12 years ago from Mason’s very first releases, had a massive impact on the UK pop landscape and beyond, quite literally altering the way music was made, bringing a fresh, playful, genre-busting spirit to the deployment of new technology and traditional instruments. Thereafter, The Beta Band, led by Mason, struggled manfully beneath the weight of expectation. After they split up in ’04, Steve went to ground in his native Fife, firing off wonderfully unconventional records under a series of pseudonyms – most prominently, King Biscuit Time and Black Affair.