The Growlers

About The Growlers

The Growlers spent most of the 2010s carving out their own weird niche somewhere between surf rock nostalgia and psych-tinged garage punk. They called it "beach goth" which is honestly pretty accurate if you've ever heard them—sun-baked guitar tones filtered through a haze of reverb and frontman Brooks Nielsen's distintively slurred, half-asleep vocal delivery.

The band formed in Dana Point, California around 2006, with Nielsen and guitarist Matt Taylor at the core. The Orange County beach town setting made sense given their sound, though they were never doing straightforward surf worship. Early releases like their 2009 debut "Are You In Or Out?" mixed lo-fi production with 60s garage rock and a kind of stoned, shambling energy that set them apart from the more polished indie acts of that era.

They built their following the old way—relentless touring, particularly around California, and a string of albums that gradually refined their approach without sanding off the rough edges. "Hot Tropics" in 2010 and "Hung at Heart" in 2013 deepened their catalog, with tracks like "Someday" and "One Million Lovers" becoming fan favorites. They had this knack for writing songs that sounded both nostalgic and narcotic, like someone slowed down a 60s AM radio hit by 15%.

The real shift came with 2016's "City Club," produced by Julian Casablancas. The album brought cleaner production and more explicit new wave influences—synths crept in, the guitars got sharper, and songs like "I'll Be Around" and the title track showed a band willing to evolve beyond their beach goth framework. It was their most accessible work and landed them on bigger festival bills and late-night TV.

"Casual Acquaintances" followed in 2018, continuing the more polished direction with tracks like "Foghorn Town" and "Pulp of Youth." They'd gone from cult favorites to a band that could actually fill mid-size rooms across the country.

Then things got complicated. In 2020, multiple women came forward with allegations of predatory behavior against Nielsen at the band's Beach Goth festival events and elsewhere. The band went quiet. They addressed it briefly but vaguely, and the whole thing cast a shadow over their legacy that hasn't really lifted.

They've continued making music—2019's "Natural Affair" came out before the allegations went public, and they've released scattered singles since—but the momentum definitely stalled. Some fans stuck around, others walked away. The music still sounds like The Growlers, that same swaying, reverb-soaked groove, but it's hard to separate art from context when the context is sitting right there.

Where they go from here is anyone's guess. The catalog remains, and songs like "City Club" and "I'll Be Around" still get plays, but the path forward looks considerably narrower than it did five years ago.

Their shows move at their own pace—no false energy, just a steady, almost hypnotic pull. Crowds tend to sway rather than thrash. Nielsen's delivery stays cool and measured even in intimate venues, which somehow makes songs hit harder. They're the band you watch rather than the band that demands your participation.

Known for City Club, Sunshine, Artificial Light, Floating, The One That Got Away

See The Growlers Live