The Growlers have just dropped a new surprise album Casual Acquaintances on July 27, in the midst of their Beach Goth Pop up in Downtown Los Angeles. As reported by Consequence of Sound, the entire album is available for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify.
Casual Acquaintances is entirely produced by the band’s lead singer Brooks Nielsen and their lead guitarist Matt Taylor. According to a press release, the album features “demos, works-in-progress and other unfinished business from the band’s City Club sessions,” all done in the bands signature DIY aesthetic which launched their claim to indie stardom.
Julian Casablancas, the Strokes front-man and lead vocalist, produced the entirety of the Growlers’ last album: 2016’s City Club. As part of the album’s recording sessions, Casablancas infused many different styles into their music from West African drums, to dance and electronic styles.
Casual Acquaintances’ cover art was designed by Aleia Murawski and Sam Copeland, with a small preview of the album cover being uploaded on Murawski’s Instagram page a day before the album’s release. Some of the songs from the 10-track album such as Problems III had been recorded in 2016 as part of the City Club album sessions.
This album announcement was ahead of the band’s annual Beach Goth music festival, which is set to feature the Voidz(led by Casablancas), The Drums and GWAR. Beach Goth, which previously took place at the Observatory from 2012 to 2016, will take place at the Los Angeles State Historic Park in California on August 5.
Beach Goth was temporarily suspended in 2017, at least in name, after Noise Group, who owns the Observatory in Santa Ana, sued the band alleging that they created Beach Goth name and merchandising rights. Despite this, the band renamed the festival Growlers 6 and hosted the event in San Pedro, California in 2017.
This lawsuit occurred right after the tumultuous Beach Goth 2016 festival, which enraged many fans after the venue was changed from the Oak Canyon Park, in Silverado, CA back to the Observatory fair grounds. Some of the attendees complained of overcrowding, the lack of water stations and poor treatment by the venue’s security.
“Did you witness my friend getting her hair pulled by security? Did you witness another friend getting choked out because he had a go pro?” one attendee, Jason Giffen wrote in response to statement made by the band regarding the festival. “Did you witness security basically locking people inside and breaking every fire code violation possible?”
In response the band released an apology for the 2016 edition of the festivals and has since cut ties with the venue and promoters. Back in November, the group revealed that they will be using the Beach Goth moniker once again indicating they were successful against the Noise Group’s legal battle.
Casual Acquaintances Tracklist:
01. Neveah
02. Problems III
03. Heaven in Hell
04. Pavement
05. Decoy Face
06. Orgasm of Death
07. Drop Your Phone in the Sick
08. Thing For Trouble
09. Last Cabaret
10. Casual Acquaintances
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