Some bands have a few songs so immediately fun they can change the air in the room. Nude Beach must have at least 20 of ‘em — each built to win over anyone in the crowd, no matter their tastes. Looking for scruffy punk bangers or spirit-lifting jangling melodies? Hoping for a few triumphantly ripping glam rock solos? What about some good old Heartland AM radio pop or souped-up muscle car rockers made for open-window drives? On its sprawling and satisfying 18-song double album, 77, the Brooklyn trio’s members — singer and guitarist Chuck Betz, bassist Jimmy Shelton, and drummer Ryan Naideau — have got you more than covered.
From that first shuffling drum fill that opens Nude Beach’s latest single, “For You,” that feel-good vibe is especially tangible — and even more so, when you see that song’s smile-inducing new music video.
If this delightful aesthetic looks at all handmade, it actually is: The video was created top-to-bottom by a bunch of six-to-11-year-olds at the Children’s Museum of the Arts’ summer camp — where Naideau used to work. The kids in the video and animation class were looking to do a music video project, so their teacher reached out in hopes of collaborating with an actual band. With a little help from a few counselors, everything from the colorful drawings and fantastic animations to the stage direction and cinematography and editing was done by these remarkably talented kids. It’s a dazzling performance video brimming with tiny oddities and cute details that fits perfectly with Nude Beach’s nearly three-minute song.
Throughout “For You,” and 77, in general, Nude Beach wears its influences proudly, like a sleeve of tats running up their arms. There are some familiar touchstones that’ll remind you of the Stones, Tom Petty and Springteen; or Big Star, Elvis Costello, and The Replacements; or contemporaries like Wilco, The Men and Japandroids. Yet as Betz chants the sweet line, “Everything I do, I do for you,” it’s clear Nude Beach’s way with a hook and a power chord — not to mention its burgeoning grandiosity — has transformed this scrappy yet hardworking group into one of the most promising guitar bands this year.