The Beach Goth is Back

The Growlers - Hot Tropics
It was Halloween of 2008, almost two years ago, when I first saw The Growlers by accident. There was a free Strange Boys show in Laguna that night, and a band i'd heard mentioned now and again called The Growlers were playing with them. Granted, that night I was too drunk on friendship and $2 beers to appreciate what I was hearing in the background. Luckily for me, the "Beach Goth" pioneers were handing out a free CD with a few newly recorded tracks on it, one of which being being Something Someone Jr, which would become the opening on their label debut about a year later.

Listening to the sampler CD on the way to work a few days later, I instantly fell in love. It was a sound truly their own, like nothing i'd ever heard before. All the best parts of psychedelic, surf, early goth were combined in a druggy haze, which was complimented by frontman Brooks Neilsen's surprisingly detailed lyrics and slurred, soulful, rough squeak of a voice. I needed to get my hands on more. I borrowed their earlier material, which had some great songs from a long-abandoned sound, and attended every show of theirs I could. I had a new band to love, and hell, it was a local band, someone that I could, for a time, consider my own little secret.

Last year, The Growlers were signed by Everloving Records and released Are You in or Out, a collection of selected tracks from the dozens they had recorded in the 4 or 5 years before hitting it big. I had some Growlers on vinyl, and oh, what a joy it was. I was sad the boys were no longer a homegrown sensation, their warehouse parties and secret shows a thing of the past, but at the same time, they were getting the recognition they deserved, and that's what counts. Since then, they've opened for Devendra Banhart, Dr. Dog, Julian Casablancas and most recently, the Black Keys.

And to put a great end to a good year - they have a new 10" EP out - Hot Tropics. It's a mix of new songs and more recent older stuff (all re-recorded though), and it's a nice little collection of jams to get me through until the next full-length. There's a recurring theme of death and souls in the songs (Graveyard's Full, Sea Lion Goth Blues), but it ties together with a love song which fades into an islandy instrumental outro (Underneath Our Palms, Hula Hula Hideout). It's only around 20 minutes, but it's a very nice 20 minutes to be had.

-Thom

P.S. This docuvideo is pretty rad, just like the song