The Exbats

The Exbats -- drummer/vocalist Inez McLain and her dad/guitarist Ken -- play tunes with simple pop melodies, no-frills first-wave punk arrangements, and a cheerful sense of humor that finds room for observations on pop culture, troubles with relationships, and even family matters. After posting a number of songs online, their debut album, 2016's A Guide to the Health Issues Affecting Rescue Hens, attracted significant attention. Positive press greeted 2019's passionately scrappy E Is for Exbats, and with 2021's Now Where Were We (influenced by '60s pop), and 2023's Song Machine (an homage to '70s radio hits), they dabbled with a more polished sound without sapping their energy or their sense of fun. The Exbats' story began in 2009, when the McLain family was living in Portland, Oregon. Ken and his wife were serious rock & roll fans from way back -- Inez even got her name from a nickname of the Monkees' Mike Nesmith, "Papa Nez" (Inez's folks were both big on the Prefab Four). Ken, who cites the Ramones and Blondie as key influences, began writing songs while Inez bashed along on the drums; before long, they were happy enough with the results that they began playing in public. They called their band the Numbats, and between April 2012 and March 2013, the group released four digital singles. In 2014, the McLains left Portland for Pinon, Arizona, and the group transformed themselves into the Exbats, once again dropping occasional singles online. After developing a following in the Tucson area, the Exbats headed into the studio in 2017 for their first full-length project, a cassette album titled A Guide to the Health Issues Affecting Rescue Hens ("exbats" is a word describing chickens that were abused by their owners, and when Inez put their name into a search engine, she discovered a book of that title). The cassette earned plenty of positive reviews as the father-daughter combo earned them a bigger fan base. Musician and recording engineer Matt Rendon, who recorded and mixed the cassette, added some basslines to the sessions and later became the group's official bass player. A second cassette, I Got the Hots for Charlie Watts, followed in January 2018, and February 2019 saw the release of E Is for Exbats, a vinyl collection that compiled highlights from the two cassettes along with a re-recorded version of "Are We Dead Yet." The group upped their professionalism on their 2020 album Kicks, Hits and Fits, which featured cleaner production and fuller arrangements than their earlier releases. It also introduced bass player Bobby Carlson, Jr., who took over from Matt Rendon, though Rendon engineered the sessions and sat in on guitar and keyboards. The Exbats made their debut on the Goner Records label with 2021's Now Where Were We, a set that indulged the duo's taste for '60s pop and the Mamas & the Papas in particular. The band moved forward into the past with 2023's Song Machine, a set inspired by radio-friendly pop of the early to mid-'70s, which included the singles "Riding with Paul" and "Like It Like I Do."
© Mark Deming /TiVo