The Exbats - Song Machine
Out Oct 13, 2023 on Goner Records

The Exbats
Song Machine
Goner Records

In a just world, Song Machine, the fifth full-length album from The Exbats, which arrives October 13 via Goner Records, would become one of the most-loved and most-listened to albums of the 2020s. With the 13-track Song Machine, the Bisbee, Arizona-based band further their analog back-to-the-future combination of the Shangri-Las and pre-Velvet Underground doo-wop wannabe Lou Reed, churning out catchy tunes laden with buoyant choruses that rank alongside the best A-sides recorded in the shadow of the Brill Building or with the Wrecking Crew in tow. The Exbats are effortless time travelers–this time, they’ve set the dial for the early 1970s, incorporating the sonic magic of the Partridge Family, Muswell Hillbillies-era Kinks, and Brian Wilson into the crux of their musical ethos.

“What I remember about that era is going to record stores and seeing a wall of 45s that somebody was tasked with moving around [in concordance with] the Billboard charts,” says Kenny McLain, who, alongside daughter Inez, is the driving force behind The Exbats. “With our band we’re kinda moving things around on that towering wall of singles, as if it were from some sort of ancient tomb, and we’re trying to crack a code and make it to number one. So, I suppose, some magic door will open. And we’ll all be free? Or something like that.”

Inez, namesake of the Monkees’ wool-capped guitarist Mike Nesmith, has played drums and sung for The Exbats since she was just 10 years old. Surveying the band’s back catalog in relation to Song Machine, she adds, “I always felt like our progression is similar to that of the Kinks–starting off garage and punk and then becoming more deliberate about everything.” 

When asked to contemplate the possibility of what comes next, fame or fortune, Kenny and Inez declare that “it’s impossible.” “We made Song Machine for kids who bought 45s from 1965 to 1975, and those people aren’t around anymore,” Kenny explains. Then, in his next breath, he marvels that “We’re really lucky. People have heard us. If Inez and I can start a band when she’s ten years old and I’m 40, anyone can. We are the unlikeliest duo in rock’n’roll, yet we’re putting out really cool little things that people enjoy across the board. I think it’s making a difference.”

05 - Like It Like I Do

JAY REATARD
All Over Again 
Live @ Rob's House, Cinco De Mayo 2007
Recorded by R.Mexico

CAT#: HOSSBOOT001

[HOSS BOOTLEG001] JAY REATARD - All Over Again (Live @ Rob's House, Cinco De Mayo 2007)

Acid Tongue

The Next Messiah

Miami

A Devil in the Woods (Remastered 2020)

Modern Problems

Feeding Frenzy

Thrill Is Gone

Ty Segall

The Drag

Voilà - Françoise Hardy Cover

A label. A store. A state of mind. 
Headquartered in Memphis, TN. Host of Gonerfest. Record store in Cooper Young carries vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, and more, specializing in garage rock, punk, indie rock, soul, jazz, blues and Memphis music. Home of Elvis Impersonator shrine. 

Label artists include: Jay Reatard, NOTS, Ex-Cult, Ty Segall, Guitar Wolf, King Khan & BBQ Show, Carbonas, Quintron, and Eddy Current Suppression Ring, and many more.