Label-Defying Beta Band Makes a Lively L.A. Debut

The Beta Band is a Scottish quartet that never lets good intentions get in the way of a good time. The group, which made its Los Angeles debut at the Roxy on Thursday, is clearly ambitious, with an amiable sound that scrambles up folk, prog-rock and baroque pop, with the occasional scrap of hip-hop thrown in.

But the Betas also have a playfully anarchic streak that spikes the pastoral soundscapes. At the Roxy, as on its new self-titled album, the shaggy quartet struck a balance between gleeful noisemaking and careful craftsmanship.

At its best, the band starts with a melody so simple a child could hum it, then slowly layers on an odd sample here and a vocal swatch there until the song has taken on a different cast. On Thursday, the group turned such songs as “The House Song” and “Push It Out” into minimalist epics, with Steve Mason’s vocals soaring above the bricolage.

For a band that cultivates an anonymous persona, there was plenty to look at on stage. The members dressed in identical warmup suits, festooned with phosphorescent tubing, which provided a tip-off to their interchangeable roles. Members frequently switched instruments in midsong, or all honed in on one assignment, such as the four-man drum battery that climaxed the set.

It was all business as usual for a band that abhors slickness, and welcomes the happy accident.