Ears Wide Open: Beachwood Coyotes

Kevin Bronson on August 9th, 2017

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The story goes that Beachwood Coyotes got their name from an acid trip. It happened one night singer-guitarist Jason Nott was high and decided to hike up to the Hollywood sign, only to beat a hasty retreat when confronted by a pack of coyotes on the Beachwood Canyon trail. The next day, Nott found out there was an apparent gang hit on the trail — three dead — so he thanked his lucky wildlife and started writing songs.

Nott, the former rhythm guitarist in the punk band Drive A, has joined up with guitarist Yan Clermont, bassist Drew Smith and drummer Bryan King to make an EP titled “Scrubby,” out Friday. Produced by Austen Moret (of Midnight Divide), the EP boasts big, yearning indie-rockers with electronic flourishes, samples and the-gang’s-all-here vocals favored by artists like Grouplove. “Thematically, the EP deals with growth and overcoming obstacles that have been placed in your way,” King says, “as well as questioning and rejecting things that you may have taken for granted in the past.” The EP’s second single “I’m Tired of Rolling My Eyes” is a not-so-sly commentary on the decline of race relations in America. Being surrounded by backwards thinkers is exhausting, after all, but not so much that Beachwood Coyotes can’t raise their voices in a hopeful chorus.

||| Stream: “I’m Tired of Rolling My Eyes” and “Face to Face”