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Just about everything I’ve read about Bettie Serveert’s new album, Bare Stripped Naked (on local label Minty Fresh), argues that the veteran Dutch band, now entering its 15th year together, is little more than a group of indie-rock survivors. Supposedly they’re trudging forward in a style that went out of fashion in the late 90s, and moreover they’re constantly failing to reach the levels of their apex, 1992’s Palomine. But you know what? While that assessment is essentially true, when you consider the average songs of the indie-rock era, most fail to equal the sweet hookiness Bettie Serveert has routinely achieved. I’ll admit that it’s been years—more like a 13 or 14 years, actually—since I pulled out one of their old records for pleasure, but Bettie Serveert records don’t sound especially stale, even today.
