With Now Where Were We The Exbats hit the ground running like a dystopian garage rock version of the Shangri-Las, or like a message to the future from the pre-Velvet Underground doo-wop wannabe Lou Reed. The album rings bright, like a beacon in the wilderness: eminently, effortlessly catchy, and loaded with buoyant choruses that rank alongside the best chart-toppers launched by the Brill Building or Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Kenny McClain and his daughter, vocalist and drummer Inez McClain, formed the nucleus of the Exbats over a decade ago, when Inez was just 10 years old; today, Bobby Carlson rounds out the group on bass. Despite their remote location in Bisbee, Arizona, just 11 miles north of the U.S.-Mexican border, the group quickly racked up accolades citing a wealth of influences that run from cartoon quintet the Archies to punk rock originators the Avengers, and from the so-sweet-it-hurts 1910 Fruitgum Company to Los Angeles antiheroes the Weirdos. Truthfully, the Exbats embrace a wider swath of musical styles, incorporating blue-eyed soul, tongue-in-cheek country, Brit pop, psych, and R&B into their sound. Now Where Were We, the ExBats’ fourth album, to be released October 22 on the Memphis-based Goner Records, thematically describes the sensation of coming full circle having changed. “It’s oblique, but this is our pandemic record. It’s about taking a breath and figuring out where you are in your life; coming back to what feels important,” Kenny explains. The McClains describe this album as “more ambitious” than its predecessors. While earlier records were recorded over a few days or weeks, Inez and Kenny wrote the 12 songs that comprise Now Where Were We over “like 40 Saturdays in a row.” The Exbats tooled 90 minutes northeast to Tucson to record, per usual, with Matt Rendon at Midtown Island Studios. “We record there because we like that he isn’t a real modern guy,” Kenny says. “Matt has an encyclopedic knowledge of the type of music that influences our writing, namely mid-60s American pop. There is no Logic or ProTools, no excessive use of technological tools, no pedals. We just rehearse and record to eight-track tape.” Like the best records to croon along with, Now Where Were We is captivatingly simple, yet hardly simplistic. The Exbats are singing from their hearts—and they aren’t afraid to bare their souls. “We’re an honest band, doing our best,” Kenny says. “Maybe listeners will feel like their ears are refreshed and ready for more noise from the world, or maybe they’ll feel like they found a new friend that isn’t remote or shrouded by commercial intentions. Maybe some of these songs will get stuck in their heads. We hope they smile and sing along.” | 
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