New LA Adds: The Frights

The Frights - You Are Going to Hate This:  The Frights are a vintage doo-wop/rockabilly garage-surf-punk band from San Diego (not exactly LA, but it’s close). This is their second full album, although they also have released 3 EPs, some of which feature versions of songs that are also on this album. Zac Carper, the vocalist/guitarist from FIDLAR, helped produce this album. I saw them play last year at a Valentine’s Day show at The Echo with Cherry Glazerr, The Buttertones, and LA Witch. They’re super good live! Think Burgerama/Beach Goth vibes: surf/skate kids, weed, and a little punk rock rebellion mixed with teenage angst. This album is pretty solid over all. It’s feel-good beach music, and is super catchy thanks to the fairly simple lyrics. It’s a pretty catchy spring break album! The beginning of “Tungs” sounds just like you’re on an island in Hawaii or a beach in Mexico.  The song, “You Are Going to Hate This,” is super catchy and surf-y. The ukulele on “Of Age,” definitely gives the song a tropical vibe. I’ve had a lot of the songs stuck in my head lately, especially “You or Me”. While most of the songs are good, there are a few that I wasn’t a huge fan of. The song “Growing Up” is over-produced in my opinion. I appreciate that The Frights are trying to experiment with new sounds, but this level of production kind of gets in the way of the simple lyrics. “Kids” seems really over-produced as well, especially the vocals, so I’d say it’s a miss—even though the lyrics and melody are really catchy. I think there’s too much synth on “Puppy Knuckles”. There’s another more classic surf rock version of “Puppy Knuckles” on one of their EP Tongues/Puppy Knuckles that I prefer over the version on this album. Over all, this is a great album with some good songs on it, if you avoid the few aforementioned songs. Definitely worth giving it a listen! CHRISTINA

RIYL: SWMRS, Together Pangea, FIDLAR, The Buttertones

Recommended Tracks: “All I Need” (1), “Kids” (2), “Afraid of the Dark” (3), “Tungs” (5), “You or Me” (7), “You Are Going to Hate This” (9), “Of Age” (10)