The Ugly Beats

Revivalism? Not really. The Ugly Beats dress, play, and rock like 1967's still giving off heat waves of love. The local quintet has carved out a sweaty niche in Austin's garage, slapping on go-go boots, igniting dance parties, and lamenting the hot death of wax through their own high energy twist and shout. 2003 saw their formation - frontman/guitarist Joe Emery, organist Jeanine Attaway, guitarist Jake Garcia, drummer Stephen Austin, and bassist Jason Gentry - from the ashes of local bands like Sir Finks and the Shakewells. The group grew out of the DJ Sue Fuzz Club parties, securing the Ugly Beats as torchbearers of the Nuggets sound and American Bandstand's stomping grounds. 2005 brought Bring on the Beats!, and 2007 saw the debut of Take a Stand. Both discs were released on Get Hip, the label run by fellow garage rockers the Cynics, and boil down Farfisa rock into a beehived, lollipop rock around the clock. The rave up is not dead. – Audra Schroeder

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"The Ugly Beats like to play rock & roll for kids both young and old. People say they have a lot of fun at the ugly beats' show - so do we. LOve, " more

PAST RECOMMENDED SHOWS:

07/12/09 @ Beerland
Ugly Beats, Black Hollies
Beerland does its best go-go dive impersonation as local Get Hip staples the Ugly Beats kick out psychotic reactions with snap-crackle acumen. Jersey’s Black Hollies unleash a groovy flange-and-fuzz contagion alternately capable of selling computers (Dell used “Tell Me What You Want” in a 2008 TV spot) or setting off a mashed-potato pandemic. Garage rock refugees Candle Shop & the Psychic Readers and reverberant psych-punks Dikes of Holland open.

GREG BEETS

02/07/09 @ Carousel Lounge
The Ugly Beats, Ariel Abshire
1960s swagger alongside Austin’s newest old soul. The Transgressors crack the whip.

01/03/09 @ Emo's
Emo's Free Week
What would the fresh new year be without Emo’s Free Week? The venerable Austin venue has ordered up a meaty portion of local talent, starting Friday with weird-poppers Pataphysics, Silver Pines, J.C. & Co., and School Police inside, balanced with the louder tones of the Lemurs, Ringo Deathstarr, and more outside. Saturday, wear stretchable fabrics for the hip-shaking jive of the Ugly Beats, Jungle Rockers, Amplified Heat, and Dans la Lune. If you’re feeling more inclined to lounge, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Oh No! Oh My!, the Pons, and more pop the cork outside. Psych gets its night Sunday with the Tunnels, Christian Bland, Elvis, and Woven Bones outside and the Always Already, Haunting Oboe Music, and Prayer for Animals inside. The rest of the week promises even more aural insanity: Zookeeper, Booher & the Turkeys, Frank Smith, Abby Birds, Stereo Is a Lie (Monday); High Watt Crucifixers, Black Earth, Full Stride, Moonlight Towers, Gleeson (Tuesday); When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, the Diagonals, Eagle Claw, My Education, Unit 21, Iron Age, the Altars (Wednesday); and El Paso Hot Button, Harlem, Ume, Broken Gold, and many more on Thursday. Visit www.emosaustin.com for full lineups.

AUDRA SCHROEDER

07/11/08 @ Club de Ville
Amplified Heat, the Ugly Beats, Big Black Smoke, Hacienda
Locals bring the heat, the beat.

06/21/08 @ Beerland
Room 710 & Beerland Anniversaries
Through recession, gentrification, and smoking ordinances, Room 710 and Beerland have nurtured Red River rock since 2000 and 2001, respectively. Lick Lick leads the anniversary charge Friday at 710 alongside Insect Sex Act, the perennially reunited Pocket FishRmen, plus the Punkaroos and Detroit’s Downtown Brown. Saturday brings the Black Irish, Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5, and Box Spring Hogs. Across the street at Beerland, meanwhile, NYC’s Fleshtones return Saturday with stamina-draining garage rock, with support from the Ugly Beats and the Lovetaps.

05/30/08 @ Beerland
The Black Hollies
Beerland sends May off with a bang. Friday, New Jersey garage rockers the Black Hollies, featuring ex-members of Rye Coalition, revel in the lysergic emanations of their latest, Casting Shadows. Our own undeniable Ugly Beats spike the punch bowl with mid-1960s sock-hop swagger, while recent Tucson émigrés Harlem keep their proto-punk primitive. Saturday, the punked-up R&B strains of the Strange Boys rule the roost alongside garage-mates Shapes Have Fangs, San Antonio sunshine-poppers Hacienda, and indie rock trio Follow That Bird!

GREG BEETS

04/02/08 @ Beauty Bar
The Ugly Beats
The Beats polish Beauty Bar’s anniversary soiree. Free!

03/28/08 @ Mohawk
The Fleshtones
For three decades now, the Fleshtones haven’t forgotten that rock & roll is supposed to be fun. The NYC quartet’s performances are full-on frenzies of artery-clogging garage-party goodness, and latest bubblegum-and-beer broadside Take a Good Look! (Yep Roc) answers the prayers of Little Steven’s Wicked Cool disciples in a swirl of Farfisa-fueled redemption. Arrive early for a double shot of hometown pride from the Ugly Beats and Shapes Have Fangs.

GREG BEETS

02/29/08 @ Emo's
Might as Well Leap...
Sadly, there’s no culturally recognized way to celebrate Feb. 29. No wacky Happy Leap Year sweaters or rousing leap year songs to sing drunkenly at parties. Basically, it’s just an extra day those forward-thinking Romans stuck in there, mostly notable if you happened to be born on it. This means, of course, that when it comes around every four years, the pressure’s on. What are you going to do with an extra night? We know Austinites love a theme, so with that in mind, the always-party-ready Ugly Beats take over Emo’s for their leap year shindig, pulling in instrumental surf-rockers the Thunderchiefs and Ugly Beats offshoot Ripe. At Room 710, Mr. Lewis & the Funeral 5 headline the leap year formal with fellow ATX roustabouts Black Irish, Bus Stop Stallions, Bones, and Fish Fry Bingo. Across the street, Elysium’s leap year party gathers local goth quintet Death Is Not a Joyride and electro quartet Rage Ranger, and Cry Blood Apache beats out a few from their upcoming EP, The Northern Travelers. The show’s free with a ticket stub from the Ghostland Observatory gig.

AUDRA SCHROEDER

02/01/08 @ Beerland
The Ugly Beats
Friday night dance party, ATX-style. DJs Mike Hooker and Beat Jake Garcia wax on, off.

01/04/08 @ Emo's
Emo's Free Week, Part 2

DARCIE STEVENS

10/13/07 @ Emo's
Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs
Though best known for her garage rock days in girl group Thee Headcoatees and White Stripes three-way “It’s True That We Love One Another,” UK chanteuse Holly Golightly has always had a roots soul. Collaborating with elusive Texas bassist Lawyer Dave for the Brokeoffs’ recent You Can’t Buy a Gun When You’re Crying (Damaged Goods), Golightly’s dark country edge haunts the hills where Nico meets Neko Case. The Ugly Beats open.

DOUG FREEMAN

09/22/07 @ Beerland
Amplified Heat CD Release
The brothers Ortiz scorch the earth, with the Ugly Beats and Tia Carrera.

08/18/07 @ Beerland
The Ugly Beats, the Cynics, the Hex Dispensers
Get on the good foot.

07/13/07 @ The Parish
Ugly Beats, Tiger!Tiger!, Automusik
Garage sweat with a touch of sour Kraut makes the Chicken Ranch Records stable jump.

05/05/07 @ Carousel Lounge
The Ugly Beats, Freddie Steady 5
Steady as she go-gos.

04/14/07 @ Beerland
Ugly Beats CD Release/Billy Steve Korpi Benefit
From its Byrds-brained CD art down to the last jangle of “Ain’t That Old,” the Ugly Beats’ Take a Stand continues the Austin quintet’s irresistible Sixties mash-up. 2005’s Bring on the Beats emptied the American Bandstand, and now Take a Stand peels the wallflowers from the gym’s wood paneling.

RAOUL HERNANDEZ

02/25/07 @ Ruta Maya
Freddie Steady's Frontier A-Go-Go
Go-go dancers, the Ugly Beats, Jenny Wolfe & the Pack: Get out the hairspray.

02/17/07 @ Continental Club
Wormtone's Winter Wiggle Stomp
Given their mile-high pedigree, the vintage-minded tastemakers at Denver’s Wormtone Records know all about the warming powers of surf guitar tremolo, rockabilly rave-ups, frat-house fuzztones, and hippy hippy shakes. We can’t promise actual winter wiggling weather, but Wormtone’s two-night Continental Club stomp is guaranteed to be white hot. Friday’s lineup features the AquaSonics, Eddie Clendening, the Bellfuries, and Long John Thomas & the Duffs. Saturday revs up with the Jungle Rockers, the Thunderchiefs, the Orangu-Tones, and the Ugly Beats.

GREG BEETS

01/06/07 @ Mohawk
Winter Dance Party
Forty-eight years ago this month, the ill-fated Winter Dance Party featuring Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper began in Milwaukee. Saturday’s sequel at the Mohawk is a similarly themed evening of rock to warm the cockles, with nary a small plane in sight. The Ugly Beats’ solid-state barrage of garage noise circa 1966 hits like a stack of vintage 45s, while the Faceless Werewolves serve up a platter of fuzzbombs cooked Medium Freaky. Twenty-first-century psychedelic rangers the Dolly Partners open.

GREG BEETS

12/15/06 @ Beerland
A December to Dismember
Nothing screams “Christmas” like “bloodbath.” Beerland kicks off this sanguine-themed extravaganza with a garage rock bludgeoning from the Ugly Beats at 7pm. Later, Yellow Fever brings fistfuls of Sixties pop, the Carrots project girl-group pathos in Spectorvision, Dallas’ Strange Boys bo-diddle through minutelong blasts of shiv-toting rock, and Those Peabodys clean up with their spasmodic scorched earth sound. Those wearing all red get in free!

GREG BEETS

11/11/06 @ Carousel Lounge
The Ugly Beats
Bomp! Bang! Boom!

02/25/06 @ Flamingo Cantina
Misprint Benefit
Haterade is expensive these days, so the Ugly Beats, Lomita, Zom Zoms, and ’Til We’re Blue Or Destroy help out.

02/10/06 @ Beerland
KOOP Benefit
With the recent fires at KOOP’s studio still simmering in the hearts of the station’s deejays and staff, this benefit aims to help lighten the burden of their upcoming move. Ear Candy deejay Jennifer will be behind the decks dropping some indie pop, while Stronger Than Dirt deejay Scott Gardner digs up some underground rock and garage. Adding to the soundtrack are the sweaty sounds of the Ugly Beats and Nervous Exits.

AUDRA SCHROEDER

01/06/06 @ Emo's
Free Week, Part 2!
After a near-week of rock & roll debauchery, we near the finish line with a second dose of super local, utterly fun, and totally free shows. Now is not the time for a breather. Friday night is fast and furious with the emo metal of At All Cost, D.C.-inspired hardcore of America Is Waiting, mindfuck heavyosity of Cardinale, Vise Versa’s popcore, and the clanging sludge of SteerS on the outside stage. Inside, Emo’s opens up the garage door with the Stepbrothers, Rev. Ray Pride’s Crack Pipes, the Ugly Beats’ go-go-rama, and the electric sliding Nervous Exits. Saturday night, local bigwigs I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness hit the outside stage, out of the studio and into the night. Local college rockers Zykos support with the flashing Lemurs and Strokesian Lord Henry. Inside, What Made Milwaukee Famous gain a little stardom of their own with the beautiful Glass Family, the Fall Collection’s power pop, and brand-new rockers Crash Gallery. Sunday is all about the ass with dance-punkers Things That Go Pop!, Loxsly’s squealing swirl, a big poppy Magic Surprise, and Tacks, the Boy Disaster. And don’t give us any BS about having to work in the morning, because Monday’s even better. The Awesome Cool Dudes/Tuxedo Killers conglomerate When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth throw down proggy with Blonde Redhead followers AM Syndicate, the Chapters’ Eighties jam, and the “punk rock” of the Midgetmen. Momentum, baby. Tuesday is hardcore night with the tightass Games & Theory, Bitter Tongues, and Triumph of Gnomes, while Wednesday is for the truly excessive and strong of liver. Chicken Ranch Records messes the barnyard with the White Ghost Shivers, Willie Heath Neal, and travelin’ man John Schooley & His One Man Band. We feel your pain. Buck up, SXSW is right around the corner.

DARCIE STEVENS

11/18/05 @ Beerland
The Ugly Beats
Sixties-styled garage rock quintet the Ugly Beats are eminently reliable purveyors of hip-shaking, punch-spiking, good-time fun. Their debut LP, Bring on the Beats! (Get Hip), is one of 2005’s premier local releases, and you never know what lost nuggets will emerge from the Beats’ grab bag of covers. Fellow locals the Score, born from the remains of venerable Spirit of ’77 punkers the Dead End Cruisers, supply energetic chaos, while Waco’s American History Project opens up with evocative surf instrumentals based on historical events like the Trail of Tears and the My Lai massacre.

GREG BEETS

09/30/05 @ Beerland
The Sword, Fatal Flying Guilloteens, Skullening
Sure, you could stay home and watch Supernanny, but if you really want to see yelling and tantrums, you’ll want to be at Beerland for some local action. The Ugly Beats sock hop in their garage, San Antonio’s Animals of the Bible and Skullening bang and clang in the kitchen, Houston’s Fatal Flying Guilloteens kick and scream out on the patio, and the Sword crunches out those bowel shakers. You might need to wear a diaper.

AUDRA SCHROEDER

08/13/05 @ Beerland
The Ugly Beats, Zakary Thaks

06/03/05 @ Emo's
Deathray Davies, Grand Champeen
With the release of The Kick and the Snare, Dallas’ Deathray Davies successfully distill their eccentric take on summer pop melancholia to its richest, most succinct essence yet. It’s not a long album, but there’s a lot to hear in those 11 stacked tracks. The Davies’ road-hogging Glurp labelmates Grand Champeen are the bar-birthed product of many hours studying the gospels of used rock vinyl, while openers the Ugly Beats take it all the way back with their Sixties teen canteen punk.

GREG BEETS

02/19/05 @ Beerland
The Ugly Beats
Bring on the Beats with the local old-school garage rockers.