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By David Taylor<\/em><\/p>\n Hailing from Dana Point, California, the Growlers have reinvented their sound over their last two albums. The simplistic (lovable) beachy jangle heard in everything before <\/span>Chinese Fountain<\/span><\/i> has transformed into synthy, beat-driven melodies led by the ever-raspier lead-singer Brooks Nielsen and music director\/guitarist Matt Taylor. Just releasing their <\/span>Casual Acquaintances<\/span><\/i> album last July, the Growlers have set off on their Beach Goth 2018 tour, carrying the post-modern psychedelic energy of their annual \u2018SoCal\u2019 festival across the country\u2013as well as a couple lucky European cities. <\/span><\/p>\n Getting past the peculiar (to say the least) set with painted flames and the Dia de los Muertos Virgin Mary tucked in the corner, the Growlers \u201ccostumes\u201d were more than enough to keep the eyes occupied. All six members of the band were dressed in jumpsuits with hand painted eight-pointed stars and inverted crosses. The black light glow reflecting off the white jumpsuits gave the illusion of ghostly-ghouls performing rather than people, especially during the lyrically eerie songs like \u201cEmpty Bones\u201d and \u201cGraveyards Full.\u201d And while discussing appearances, it would be a disservice to neglect describing Brooks. For those who don\u2019t know, the man looks like the love child of Jim Morrison and Edward Scissorhands. His comfortably awkward dancing, slicked back hair, and \u201870s pornstar sideburns truly make him one of the coolest\u2013if not <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> coolest\u2013front men touring today. <\/span><\/p>\n The professionality (granted, limited professionality\u2013but by Growlers standards, corporate) of the set, costumes, and newly added members of the band had a striking difference to their disheveled sneaker-wearing look when I saw them in Santa Cruz in 2016. Today, they are far more polished and have a greater theatrical element than previous years. Still, the moment the band entered the stage to Jonathan Richman\u2019s \u201cNew England\u201d and kicked off the show with \u201cLove Test,\u201d it was lack-of-business as usual. They still maintain that same laid-back, surfer dude vibe of a nostalgic, quintessentially Californian band. And, it transferred exceptionally well to the Bostonian audience. The Royale was brimming with people who loved the band as much as I do. For the entire first song, I couldn\u2019t hear Brooks sing over the audience participation. It was fantastic, and it only got better. Fan favorite after fan favorite, <\/span>Los<\/span><\/i> Growlers kept the momentum rolling with \u201cDull Boy,\u201d \u201cNaked Kids,\u201d \u201cDerka Blues,\u201d and \u201cNight Ride.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Then \u201cDope on a Rope\u201d started, and that got the crowd moshin\u2019. Being 6\u20192 among an unusually short crowd, I had to keep my head on a constant swivel to avoid being taken out by one of the dozen crowd surfers circling like sharks around me. Song after song, the concert began losing its essence of being a concert. It turned into a \u2018really rad Growlers Party\u2019 that the band decided to host. One unique individual with a broken leg got the band\u2019s attention by waving his crutches in the air. Brooks quickly grabbed a crutch and pulled him up on stage. The guy did a little jig (as only a boy dancing with one leg can) and jumped off into the crowd, with no one there to catch him. He promptly stood up from the floor, and Brooks told us \u201cDon\u2019t worry, he\u2019s alright everybody. In the leg, not in the head.\u201d The barrier between the band on stage and the audience below dissolved. We felt like we were watching a friend up there\u2013not musical idols (as The Growlers are in my opinion).<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a rare opportunity to see a band that internalizes its salty, sandy California heart as well as this band does. It\u2019s even more rare to find a band that is able to translate their inclusivity and love for performing with the audience as well as the Growlers. Whether you were one of the lucky fans who jumped up on stage to do a makeshift cabaret with Brooks or you just remained in the mosh, you spent the night <\/span>with<\/span><\/i> Los Growlers, not watching them. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By David Taylor Hailing from Dana Point, California, the Growlers have reinvented their sound over their last two albums. The simplistic (lovable) beachy jangle heard in everything before Chinese Fountain has transformed into synthy, beat-driven melodies led by the ever-raspier lead-singer Brooks Nielsen and music director\/guitarist Matt Taylor. Just releasing their Casual Acquaintances album last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525],"tags":[33,26,97,327,31,138,509,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2819,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2817\/revisions\/2819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}