Glass Beach (band)

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Glass Beach
OriginLos Angeles, U.S.
Genres
Years active2016–present
LabelsRun for Cover
Members
  • J McClendon
  • Jonas Newhouse
  • William White
  • Layne Smith
Websiteglassbeach.band

Glass Beach (stylized as glass beach) are an American indie rock band from Los Angeles and are currently based in Seattle.[1] Their music has been described as "heavy indie rock", blending influences including punk rock, math rock, and mid-century jazz. They cite some of their musical influences as Jeff Rosenstock, They Might Be Giants, and The Brave Little Abacus.[2][3][4]

The band's formation and music is closely tied to internet communities, and according to The Washington Post has "developed a cultish online following".[5] In early 2020, the Los Angeles Times predicted that the band "likely won't be playing cozy venues like All Star Lanes for much longer."[6]

History[edit]

In 2015, lead singer J McClendon made the move to Los Angeles, California from her hometown of Burleson, Texas,[7] where she couch-surfed and worked on her solo project, Casio Dad.[8] During this time she released an EP titled He's Not With Us Anymore.[9] Shortly after, while attending the University of Minnesota Morris, close friends Jonas Newhouse and William White heard a song from J's new EP on their school's radio station, and immediately found interest in the musician.[8] The trio quickly became friends, and soon Newhouse and White joined J in Los Angeles to live together and form Glass Beach.[10] For the next three years, the group worked diligently on their first album, The First Glass Beach Album, which debuted on May 18, 2019 under Run for Cover Records.[8]

Before the album's release, musician and artist Layne Smith joined the group [10] as the band's guitarist after bonding over Dungeons & Dragons,[11] and immediately got to work developing the band's live sound and became a key member of the group.[12]

The band released several singles and a remix album following The First Glass Beach Album, for many of them initially on Bandcamp. These included "running", originally written for Bill & Ted Face the Music before it was cut from the film, and released in 2020.[13] The band released an alternate version of "classic j dies and goes to hell", a song on their first album, in celebration of the song achieving 1 million streams on Spotify.[14] They covered Car Seat Headrest's "Beach Life-In-Death" in January 2021,[15] as well as "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance in July of the same year, for Pride Month.[16] The remix album, featuring Bartees Strange, Skylar Spence, Ska Tune Network, and Dogleg, was also released in 2021.[17]

On September 27, 2023, glass beach released an alternate reality game hosted on their website which culminated in the reveal of the name and tracklist of their second album Plastic Death.[citation needed] On October 11, 2023 the band released the album's first single, "the CIA", featuring themes of fear and surveillance by the Central Intelligence Agency, with a music video directed by White.[18] On November 6 the band released the second single, "rare animal", about the disappearance of D. B. Cooper.[19] Plastic Death, produced by Will Yip,[20] was released on January 19, 2024.[19]

Members[edit]

  • J McClendon[21] - vocals/guitar (2015-present)
  • Jonas Newhouse[22] - bass (2015-present)
  • William White[23] - drums (2015-present)
  • Layne Smith[24] - lead guitar (2019-present)

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

Remix albums[edit]

  • Alchemist Rats Beg Bashful (Remixes) (2021)[26]

Singles[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "glass beach". glassbeach.band. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  2. ^ "Glass Beach: Better Living Through Irony". Track 7. August 3, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ "Interview: Glass Beach Discuss Their Restless Debut". The Alternative. January 28, 2020.
  4. ^ "Glass Beach: The First Glass Beach Album". Pitchfork.
  5. ^ "Band To Watch: Glass Beach". November 13, 2019.
  6. ^ "Best concerts in L.A. This week: The Smell's anniversary celebration, Califone, Glass Beach". Los Angeles Times. January 2020.
  7. ^ "Run For Cover Records". Run For Cover Records. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c "The First Glass Beach Album, by Glass Beach". Glass Beach. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  9. ^ "He's Not With Us Anymore, by Casio Dad". Petal Port Music. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  10. ^ a b The Making of The First Glass Beach Album. Run For Cover Records. February 17, 2020. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "Interview: Glass Beach Discuss Their Restless Debut". The Alternative. January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  12. ^ "Glass Beach". Terrorbird. Retrieved February 24, 2021.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ Deville, Chris (July 30, 2020). "Glass Beach's New Song "Running" Was Originally Written For The New 'Bill & Ted' Movie". Stereogum. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  14. ^ Rettig, James (September 16, 2020). "Glass Beach - "classic j dies and gets a million streams on spotify"". Stereogum. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  15. ^ Deville, Chris (January 7, 2021). "Glass Beach - "Beach Life In Death" (Car Seat Headrest Cover)". Stereogum. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  16. ^ Deville, Chris (June 28, 2021). "glass beach - "Welcome To The Black Parade" (My Chemical Romance Cover)". Stereogum. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  17. ^ Rettig, James (February 23, 2021). "Glass Beach Announce Remix Album Featuring Bartees Strange, Skylar Spence, Dogleg, & More". Stereogum. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  18. ^ Pappis, Konstantinos (October 11, 2023). "glass beach Return With New Song 'the CIA'". Our Culture Mag. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c Breihan, Tom (November 6, 2023). "Glass Beach Announce New Album 'Plastic Death': Hear "Rare Animal"". Stereogum. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  20. ^ a b Sacher, Andrew (November 6, 2023). "Glass Beach announce new album Plastic Death & tour, share "Rare Animal"". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  21. ^ beach band [@glassbeachband] (August 2, 2021). "-j (they/them) Glass Beach's front person, singer, keyboardist, rhythm guitarist, and writer. crushing it on tracks such as "Classic J Dies", "Cold Weather", and "Orchids". interests: graphic design, animation, watching streams, cooking, and not being on social media" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ beach band [@glassbeachband] (August 2, 2021). "-jonas (they/she) @jonasnewhouse Glass Beach's funky-ass bass player. catch their heat coming off of tracks like "Bedroom Community" and "Yoshi's Island". interests: video games, streaming, guitar and piano, denim dresses, books about pirates, and her dog markle" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ beach band [@glassbeachband] (August 2, 2021). "-william (they/them) @KWilliamWhite Glass Beach's thumping drummer. breaking it down on tracks like "Neon Glow", "Glass Beach", and "Dallas". interests: film, cameras, podcasts, guitar, overworking, their cat tig, and running the socials" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 1, 2022. Retrieved May 8, 2022 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ beach band [@glassbeachband] (August 2, 2021). "- layne (he/him) @SillyBoyArt glass beach's ripping lead guitarist. here to tear into tracks like glass beach and 1015. interests: anime, video games, streaming, drawing/painting, music engineering, flannel shirts, birds, and buc-ees" (Tweet). Retrieved April 16, 2024 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ "the first glass beach album, by glass beach". glass beach. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  26. ^ Moore, Em (February 24, 2021). "Glass Beach announce remix album". Punknews.org. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  27. ^ "running, by glass beach". glass beach. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  28. ^ "classic j dies and gets a million streams on spotify, by glass beach". glass beach. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  29. ^ "1015, by glass beach". glass beach. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  30. ^ "beach life in death, by glass beach". glass beach. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  31. ^ "welcome to the black parade, by glass beach". glass beach. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
  32. ^ "the CIA, by glass beach". glass beach. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
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