Named for a quaintly bougie suburban neighborhood in Toronto, Canada, The Beaches are likely to be the harbingers of a new age of un-ironic, non-alternative, rock music — one dominated by women.
With all the swagger and rebellion of their predecessors, sisters Jordan and Kylie Miller, Leandra Earl and Eliza Enman-McDaniel have become bona fide stars up north after winning a Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2018 and landing two Billboard No. 1 hits off their first album, Late Show, with even the likes of Dave Grohl and Sir Elton John going out of their way to praise the group. Just this past June, The Beaches got the chance to open for The Rolling Stones.
“I didn’t go to university like my peers did and my friends, so we don’t have that in common, but at the same time it was great that I got to experience some really amazing things at such a young age,” drummer Enman-McDaniel says. “I learned a lot about the world and myself and my friends, so I feel super grateful for having those experiences and I think they each kind of still amaze me as they come.”
They’ll be playing Dallas for the first time this Saturday at Sundown at Granada, and Enman-McDaniel tells the Observer she, as well as the rest of the band, are excited to explore more of the Lone Star State since their first visit for SXSW 2014. Enman-McDaniel has been with the band since its incarnation as the catchy, “Sk8tr Boi”-inspired, cult Canadian teen-band Done With Dolls. Now road-tested veterans of their craft, The Beaches have retained their Avril Lavigne influence in flourishes but could more accurately be described as Alanis Morissette-meets-the-Ramones.
“I think what Jordan tries to do is write about personal experiences that she knows other people will be able to relate to and thinks that young people go through, so I think that that makes the music more accessible to other people,” Enman-McDaniel says. “The newest music is more experimental, and we tried different things as opposed to Late Show, which was a lot more like to the bones rock ‘n’ roll.”
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She credits their producer, Garret “Jacknife” Lee, in part for their latest EP’s more diverse sound. The Professional dropped in May and has already spawned fan-favorite tracks, including “Snake Tongue” a decidedly rowdy anthem against catcalling inspired by a real-life incident lead singer Jordan Miller experienced during recording. It also contains “Fascination,” a near-archetypal (i.e. timeless) rock song about fleeting love told from a woman’s perspective with sunny clarity.
The Beaches’ use of vintage synths, helmed expertly by Earl, lends the band an even more classical rock ‘n’ roll vibe while also affording Jordan a more versatile sonic canvas for her throaty warbles and echo-y refrains. The chemistry among the four is obvious enough to tell they likely finish each other’s sentences
There’s no one else who really makes rock ‘n’ roll like this in 2019. The Beaches offer a thoroughly modern and fresh perspective on a near-dead genre of music famous for its megalomaniac male figures.
“We need music like that, more real rock music, because everything right now is just so washed out and produced,” Enman-McDaniel says. “I don’t know, we need some more fresh rock ‘n’ roll. … It’s cool to be part of that I guess.”