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.
āI didnāt go to university like my peers did and my friends, so we donāt 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,ā drummer Enman-McDaniel says. āI 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.ā
Theyāll 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, āSk8tr Boiā-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.
āWe need music like that, more real rock music, because everything right now is just so washed out and produced.ā ā Eliza Enman-McDaniel
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āI 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,ā Enman-McDaniel says. āThe 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 ānā roll.ā
She credits their producer, Garret āJacknifeā Lee, in part for their latest EPās more diverse sound. The Professional dropped in May and has already spawned fan-favorite tracks, including āSnake Tongueā a decidedly rowdy anthem against catcalling inspired by a real-life incident lead singer Jordan Miller experienced during recording. It also contains āFascination,ā a near-archetypal (i.e. timeless) rock song about fleeting love told from a womanās perspective with sunny clarity.
The Beachesā use of vintage synths, helmed expertly by Earl, lends the band an even more classical rock ānā 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 otherās sentences
Thereās no one else who really makes rock ānā 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.
āWe need music like that, more real rock music, because everything right now is just so washed out and produced,ā Enman-McDaniel says. āI donāt know, we need some more fresh rock ānā roll. ⦠Itās cool to be part of that I guess.ā