Pearl and the Beard

I don’t often write about folk bands, but Brooklyn-based Pearl and the Beard stand out from the rest of the folk-pop fold in a couple of different ways. The first is that they are not relentlessly cheery or obsessed with being cute and old-timey. While they do have their share of cute acoustic songs, just as many of their songs are dark and unsettling. The trio of Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price and Jeremy Styles use guitar, drums, keyboards and percussion to create a bit of modern menace in the otherwise bubbly world of folk-pop.