The coolest new beach band is here and go by the name of Koko Beware. The Athens, Georgia based band has their album, Something About The Summer, coming out tomorrow August 7th.
In December of 2010, Ryan Beresch and Albert Omstead decided they wanted to start a girl band, but they were missing one key component: a girl. The two chose to set this dream to the side and began working on writing songs together with Ryan on lead guitar and vocals and Albert providing bass and backing vocals. Ryan transformed previously written folk lyrics into surf-infused pop songs, blending Dick Dale and The Ramones in a perfect mix of grungy, summery tunes. The next spring, Ryan met Ashley Plocha, an art student in Savannah, looking to take her music more seriously. The two began to collaborate, and suddenly the dream was realized – Ashley was singing lead and providing reverb-laden rhythm guitar for Koko Beware.
As Ryan and Ashley bonded over writing and playing music, they decided to spend the rest of their lives making it happen together. The couple relocated to Athens, GA, which they soon called home. After a string of several successful live shows and opening for bands such as The Love Language and Ryat, Koko Beware recorded the four-track EP titled “))<>((“, released in September 2011. The band immediately set to working on a self-produced full-length LP.
In February 2012, they recorded the full-length album Something About the Summer with engineer Alex Kroh at Chase Park Transduction. Comprised of twelve original songs written by Ryan, Ashley and Albert over the past year, the album was recorded, mixed and mastered in two days.
They packed up their white Astro van and embarked on an extended weekend tour of the southeast. Upon arriving home, they immediately missed traveling endlessly and playing shows every night and are now in the works of putting together a four-month fall tour of cities across the country. While Koko Beware’s home will always be Georgia, their hearts belong to the adventure of life on the road.
Here’s their tour date schedule:
08.09 · Greenville, SC – Cabin Floor Records
08.18 · Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club (w/ Woodfangs)
08.23 · Delray Beach, FL – Dada
08.24 · Fort Lauderdale, FL – Radio Active Records
08.27 · Lake Worth, FL – The Speakeasy
08.30 · Jacksonville, FL – Burro Bar
08.31 · Gainesville, FL – Loosey’s Pub
09.01 · Orlando, FL – Wills Pub
09.02 · Tampa, FL – New World Brewery
09.03 · New Orleans, LA – Siberia
09.04 · Baton Rouge, LA – Atomic Pop Shop
09.06 · Austin, TX – Beerland
10.01 · San Francisco, CA – Hemlock Tavern
Koko Beware – Beach Babe
Koko Beware – Stay
