Beach Fossils

Beach Fossils earned a devoted following within dreamy indie rock circles by blending chiming guitars, productions drenched in reverb, and laid-back songcraft that carries faint nostalgic echoes. Their 2010 self-titled debut stood alongside contemporaneous releases by Wild Nothing and DIIV as a landmark recording of the hazy, softly distorted aesthetic these groups were developing in their early phase. Later efforts expanded the band’s sonic range, moving toward a more transparent production on the 2017 album Somersault and toward more introspective, poetic lyricism on 2023’s Bunny.

Dustin Payseur launched Beach Fossils in 2009 as an outlet for his own reverb-soaked solo material. Bassist John Pena and guitarist Christopher Burke joined the lineup before the end of that year, after Payseur had already completed the recordings for the band’s first album. The debut 7-inch single, Daydream/Desert Sand, appeared on Captured Tracks in February 2010, followed later the same year by the self-titled LP on the same imprint. Payseur and Pena collaborated again on the 2011 What a Pleasure EP; Pena subsequently departed to concentrate on Heavenly Beat. Drummer Tommy Gardner and producer Ben Greenberg of the Men joined for the next album, Clash the Truth, which Captured Tracks issued in early 2013.

Following a hiatus that included a cameo on the HBO series Vinyl as the early-’70s punk outfit the Nasty Bits, the group reconvened for a new record. Payseur brought bassist Jack Doyle Smith and guitarist Tommy Davidson into the songwriting process, and the sessions took place across New York City and Los Angeles locations, including Jonathan Rado’s home studio and a cabin in Upstate New York. Guest vocals came from Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell and Cities Aviv. Bayonet Records, the label Payseur founded with his wife Kate Garcia, released Somersault in early 2017. The band’s 2018 activities included a cover of Yung Lean’s “Agony” and a split single with Wavves tied to a tour. A tenth-anniversary reissue of the debut album arrived in 2021, accompanied by a limited-edition 7-inch of “Vacation” and the previously unreleased B-side “Time.” In November 2021 Bayonet issued the fourth album, The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, which reimagined eight songs from the band’s catalog in a gentle, saxophone-infused jazz style. Payseur and the group returned to dream pop on 2023’s Bunny, enlisting engineer Lars Stalfors to emphasize big choruses and sentimental hooks while addressing themes of parenthood, grief, and other adult experiences.