Beach Party @ The El Rey
It was a wild weekend for LA-based Beach Party. Fresh back from performing at Red Bull’s SXSW showcase after winning the Red Bull Sound Select last month at The Echo, they got right back to work, opening for The Black Lips at The El Rey Theater on Thursday, followed by performing at Burgerama II Friday, and later opening up for The Black Lips again at The Casbah in San Diego Sunday.
I had a chance to catch up with them prior to taking stage at The El Rey. A humble and fun group of guys, Beach Party compromises of James and Rob on guitars, Nico on drums, and Adam on bass. This band is eager to be out on the road playing shows and building their fan base from the ground up. Having recorded demos for a while, they’ve only started performing live as a band in the last six months, quickly gaining a fair share of recognition, due to their music being as great as their live shows.
LA Beat: “You’re playing with The Black Lips tonight, that’s pretty huge. What other bands would you like to share a stage with?”
Beach Party: “The Strokes are pretty up there”, Rob says as the rest of the band agrees and start throwing out other bands on their list, “Skaters, they’re from New York, The Hives, Ty Segal, FIDLAR…”
I remind them of their next show following the El Rey gig.
The LA Beat: “You guys are on the bill for Burgerama II with FIDLAR, not bad at all.”
Their influences range from Detroit garage to New York punk; from the MC5 to The Gories, Velvet Underground, and The Ramones to name a few. They even do a killer cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass”.
LA Beat: “What’s next for you guys? When will your album come out?”
Beach Party: “We’re still working on it. We started recording, but didn’t like the way it was going so we’re going to start again.” They hope to have something out by May or June, with a little producing help from Robert Ackroyd from Florence and the Machine.
It won’t be long before these guys are headlining the shows rather than being the supporting act. If this isn’t warning enough, like them on Facebook and follow them along for the adventure.
