With a sound heavily influenced by surf music, garage rock, and early rock & roll, Beach Skulls displayed a knack for re-creating those classic sounds while giving them the scuzzy feel of a bare light bulb. As they grew from a duo to a trio by adding a bass player, and as they became more assured songwriters, Beach Skulls signed to PNKSLM and released a polished debut and a homemade, reverb-scuffed follow-up that established them as a retro band to watch. The group began in 2011 with guitarist/vocalist Ry Vieira as the sole member, though he soon teamed with drummer Jordan Finney. The two had been college classmates and, bonding over their mutual love of Dick Dale and classic surf music, they began exploring those sounds themselves. The Liverpool-based duo started playing shows around England and recorded a string of EPs, beginning with 2011's Beneath the Waves and 2012's The Brooklyn Jive. The band's dark take on surf and garage continued to evolve, with 2013's A Different Kind of Smooth moving from lo-fi to mid-fi, while Vieira and Finney also began writing hookier, sunnier tunes. The duo's sound changed dramatically when they added a bassist, Dan West, who they ran across in Berlin. The band signed to Swedish label PNKSLM and got to work on a full album. Recorded over a quick four days' time at Liverpool's Parr Street Studios, 2016's Slow Grind conjured up the ghosts of Buddy Holly and countless sunny surf bands, with nods to contemporaries like the Allah-Las and Las Rosas. After a round of touring, Beach Skulls started work on their second album. Eschewing a sterile recording environment, they instead took up residence at an industrial workspace and set up a makeshift studio in one of the units. This relaxed setting gave them more time to explore sounds, working on setting moods and getting the feel they wanted. The proudly mid-fi sound of Las Dunas was much looser and scruffier than that of Slow Grind, and the lyrical approach strayed a bit wider than the debut full-length's focus on the subject of love. As Las Dunas' June 2018 release date neared, the bandmembers packed up and moved to Catalonia to live it up a little while they were still young. ~ Tim Sendra