The Frights - Hypochondriac (2018)

The Frights started out as a prank, a joke band that was meant to play one 30-minute set and disappear, but the gag worked well enough that the trio members became a "real" band almost in spite of themselves. Hailing from San Diego, California, the Frights were formed in the summer of 2012 by guitarist and lead singer Mikey Carnevale, bassist and vocalist Richard Dotson, and drummer Adam Lomnitzer. The three friends had just graduated from high school and began writing songs together, mixing surf music, vintage punk rock, indie noise, and flashes of doo wop vocals in tunes that managed to be catchy, aggressive, and playfully ridiculous all at once. In December 2012, Carnevale, Dotson, and Lomnitzer were home from college on Christmas break, and they decided to play a show to give their songs one public airing before setting them aside; however, someone in the audience ran a small local label, Postmark Records, and they liked the set well enough that they promptly offered to release a 7" on the band. The Frights were happy to accept the offer, and in March 2013 they released a five-song EP, Dead Beach. Just two months later, a second EP hit the streets, Fur Sure, and by the end of the year the Frights had dropped their self-titled debut album. As well as putting out plenty of vinyl, the Frights were playing out as often as possible, and two more records appeared in 2014, a single ("Tongues" b/w "Puppy Knuckles") and a split EP with Death Lens. In 2015, the Frights landed a deal with successful indie label Dangerbird Records, and after repeatedly asking Zac Carper of FIDLAR to take them on as an opening act, Carper responded with a different suggestion -- what if he were to produce a record for the Frights? Carper was behind the controls for the Frights' second album, and first for Dangerbird, You Are Going to Hate This, which was released in February 2016. You Are Going to Hate This also introduced a new Frights lineup, as Marc Finn took over as their drummer. ~ Mark Deming