glass beach
An inventive indie combo from Los Angeles, Glass Beach play a vivid amalgam of new wave, indie pop, jazz, and emo with heaps of punk energy and an affection for chiptunes. Following a handful of self-released singles, they made their full-length debut with 2019's The First Glass Beach Album. The following year, Glass Beach signed with Run for Cover, which reissued their debut and handled their Will Yip-produced follow-up, Plastic Death, in 2024.
Frontperson and multi-instrumentalist J McClendon -- a native Texan -- previously operated under the solo moniker Casio Dad, creating frenetic pop songs built around shimmering chiptune melodies and played with emo fervor. The project attracted the admiration of a pair of University of Minnesota Morris students, Jonas Newhouse and William White, who soon befriended McClendon and subsequently moved to L.A. in 2016 with the intention of starting a band together. With Newhouse on bass and White on drums, the newly minted Glass Beach spent the next few years constructing their unique sound based around McClendon's demos. A couple of digital singles paved the way for their full-length debut, which was appropriately titled The First Glass Beach Album. Just prior to its 2019 release, guitarist Layne Smith joined as the band's fourth member. The album's wild and imaginative sound soon caught the ear of Run for Cover Records, which reissued it in 2020. A pair of covers -- Car Seat Headrest's "Beach Life in Death" and My Chemical Romance's "Welcome to the Black Parade" -- appeared in 2021. They also offered a remix album, Alchemist Rats Beg Bashful, featuring contributions from Bartees Strange, Skylar Spence, Ska Tune Network, and Dogleg.
In typically eclectic fashion, Glass Beach announced their next album within a self-released alternate reality game on their website. Its first two singles, "The C.I.A." and "Rare Animal," appeared at the end of 2023 and dealt with the Central Intelligence Agency and the disappearance of notorious criminal D.B. Cooper, respectively. Produced by Will Yip (Menzingers, Circa Survive), the band's sophomore full-length, Plastic Death, was released by Run for Cover in January 2024.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo
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Discography
13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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plastic death
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 19 jan. 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
the first glass beach album
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 18 mei 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
alchemist rats beg bashful (remixes)
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 5 mrt. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
rare animal
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 6 nov. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
the CIA
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 11 okt. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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beach life in death
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 7 jan. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
welcome to the black parade
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 28 jun. 2021
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
1015
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 19 okt. 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
yoshis island (world 7x7 mix) / bathroom community
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 23 feb. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
classic j dies and gets a million streams
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 11 nov. 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
running
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 11 aug. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
orchids (playlist version)
Alternative en Indie - Released by Run For Cover Records on 9 nov. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo