New Discovery: The Beach Bats

If you’ve ever wondered what it might sound like if Jim Morrison, Tom Waits, and Jimmy Buffet got together for a psychedelic beach party, do I have a band for you. Hailing from the great white north, Hamilton, Ontario’s The Beach Bats just released their debut album, Last Resort this past spring. Self-described as “sleazy listening – like sipping margaritas by the pool of a seedy motel in a dry heat,” The Beach Bats melds genres like surf rock, blues, doom metal and more to create a lush chill sound perfect for those too hot to function days.

The Beach Bats were formed in 2016 by Tony Doni and Chelsea White after the psych-rock band Pluto Adrift, which they were both playing in, decided to take a hiatus. Listening to Last Resort is a bit like wandering the beach in a drug-induced haze. The album starts at a nice, meander but picks up the pace getting heavier and stranger as the album progresses. Although there are a number of standout tracks on Last Resort, the album really is a journey that should be experienced from start to finish, at least for the first few listens.

The Beach Bats have spent most of their summer playing live shows but they took some time to record a live version of “Last Resort” for Catch & Release Music. Recorded in the foggy hills of Mulmur, Ontario, it’s a great showcase of The Beach Bats’ talent. Plus, it’s probably the next best thing to getting to experience the band’s live show.

So if you’re looking for an album to close out this heat drenched summer with, you can’t do much better than Last Resort. It’s easy to get lost in the atmosphere The Beach Bats create throughout the album’s nine-song run. And, with the band’s ability to draw inspiration from so many genres, I think any fan of good music will have a hard time not finding something to love about Last Resort.

For fans of: Steely Dan, The Doors, The Cramps, White Denim, and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds