Concert Review: Beach Fossils’ Dreamy, Psychedelic Haze at Stubb’s For Levitation 2023
At 2023 Levitation Fest, Beach Fossils, along with openers Being Dead and Turnover, created a soundscape of dreams, playing a nostalgic mix of old and new alongside their latest album, Bunny.
Written by Rachel Joy Thomas
Photos courtesy of Roger Ho
Beach Fossils, Dustin Payseur’s solo project-turned-band, has had many faces in their development as a group. Known for their post-punk, somewhat shoegaze, jangly indie-rock sound, they’ve captured the hearts of a dedicated fanbase with over 10 years of live performances under their belt.
This year, the band announced they would be on tour with the like-minded post-punk group Turnover for the better half of the fall season. On Oct. 29, 2023, they played Austin’s Levitation Fest, a psychedelic music festival developed in 2008. Originally, Payseur played Levitation Fest with an entirely different cast of bandmates in 2011, rocking the Art Deco Seaholm Power Plant when both the band and festival were lesser known. Now, Beach Fossils returned to the Levitation Stage as a headliner.
Opening for Turnover and Beach Fossils was Austin-based band Being Dead, with members known as “Falcon Bitch” and “Gumball,” the multi-instrumental duo offered a completely different sound than either band performing after them. The pair, along with a silent bassist, sang vocals together that either seamlessly fused or interestingly conflicted, offering a timeless experience filled with experimentation and chaos. Cacophonous lyrics blended in boisterous fits that filled the venue with dynamic energy, shifting to beautiful harmony.
A perfect set for the end of October, the band exploded with spooky sounds. The duo, with all of its bells and whistles, offered Austin a glimpse into what a crossover between The Mamas and The Papas and present-day tomfoolery would be. From the twin vocals to their affinity towards surf-rock guitar alongside an array of peculiar, fascinating noises, Being Dead was an intriguing start to the barrage of concerts to come.
Turnover took the stage next with “Tears of Change,” a synthy track with twangy staccato guitar notes off their newest album, Myself in the Way. Soft, controlled lyrics dominated the performance, with the lead singer, Austin Gaetz, crooning the verse, “And is youth always so delusional? / hard to dream when you don’t get to sleep at all.” With an assortment of homogenous strings forming the jazzy yet intrinsically psychedelic base, the song offered a dizzying experience for its live audience. A guitar solo signified the song's end, faintly segwaying to silence.
In the next track, “Myself in The Way,” the band’s chorus-like tone and an arrangement of strings graced the stage with ease, allowing for the bass to take center stage for a few moments before a return to Gaetz’s vocals.
Turnover played more songs from their 2015 album, Peripheral Vision, than any other, turning to the pop-punk record adored by onlookers. The group noticed slight trickles of rain as they continued with the setlist, playing an almost chronological order of their discography with Peripheral Vision and Good Nature showcasing their washed-out punk roots. Gaetz, with boyish vocals familiar to the genre, sang with more range as he closed out his set for the night than toward the controlled beginning.
Fans perked up when they heard the jangly chords of “Don’t Fade Away,” introducing Beach Fossils to the stage after a longstanding, ominous hum of synth music. Rattling guitar paired with captivating vocals as Payseur sang, “She’s novocaine / it’s all I need to ease the pain.” The dreamy song, reminiscent of coming-of-age narratives, utilized angelic strumming of strings with thick reverb. A divine line of synthetic chorus slyly played and eventually slipped away at the behest of a country-like guitar riff. Playing with absolute precision, Payseur’s pristine, clear vocals shone through as the song followed a rhythmic, vibrating cadence.
Next, the now-familiar synthetic string synths blared as the notes of “Sugar” vibrated through the air. The subdued song from the 2017 album Somersault stood out through its thumping drum beat that added gravity to every second of the live performance. The consistent snap of the snare and beat of the bass drum collided with thematic ticks of the hi-hat and an occasional crash of cymbals, riding through the song like a healthy heartbeat. At one moment, the bass and drums grooved without the chamber sound of the guitar backing. Occasional spurts of psychedelic keys rang through as drummer Anton Hochheim and bassist Jack Doyle Smith synergized. The consistent, non-flashy bassline resonated with a cheering, enthusiastic crowd who could ignore the cold in favor of tantalizing rhythms.
Focusing on Somersault, they closed out the initial set with “May 1st,” one of the band's most popular debuts. Before the sunny yet mellow single began, Payseur took time to speak to the crowd and thank them for coming to the show.
“I just wanna take a moment here to get a little sentimental if I can. I happen to do that from time to time,” said Payseur, to which bandmate Tommy Davidson quipped “He’s an old soul!” with the pluck of two strings in a minor key.
Payseur continued: “Anyway, this next song here is about exactly what we’re doing right now. It's a song about being on tour. It’s about life on the road.” Thanking Turnover and Being Dead for touring with them, he further elaborated on his gratitude, saying: “I got to say it already… easily by far this is my favorite fucking show of the tour. Y’all are so much fun.”
After a few more parting words, the familiar, dreamy song “May 1st” finally commenced. Twangy guitar riffs paired with Payseur’s hypnotic vocals as he sang, “The world is half asleep / And you’re just hanging on / To the friends that you keep.” Concertgoers danced and cheered to keep themselves moving as slight trickles of rain started to fall. The track closed out the show, with many festival attendees leaving the moment it finished due to the bitter cold front impairing a typically warm Austin.
The band left the stage as eerie silence prickled throughout the venue. Curiously, a drum beat began to play, signaling a potential encore as the pop of a snare and bass drum filled Stubb’s. Murmurs erupted through the crowd as fans close to the barricade eagerly waited for the band to return onstage. Then, they came out with guitars, bass, and drumsticks in tow for another performance.
Payseur, with a giddy expression, announced that they weren’t playing just one song as their encore; they’d be playing a couple.
As rain fell from the heavy sky, the friendly bass of “Down the Line” blared through the venue, alerting nostalgic ears for the quartet's biggest hit. The familiar song flooded the venue with a sense of warmth as Pasyeur sang, “So call me up tonight / If you need somewhere to get out of the light.” The sense of nostalgia welcomed attendees into a lulled sense of calm. Next, they played a track from their earlier album, Crash The Truth. “Crashed Out” featured a fast-paced beat with the striking of cymbals and a repetitive buildup of the hi-hat into a dramatic conclusion. The song allowed Heincheim to show off his prowess on the drumset, shifting the audience away from a nostalgic daydream back into an upbeat, rhythm-heavy crashing from the band’s early 2010s era. Discordant guitars blew through the venue as the last strokes played out.
The encore illuminated slight differences in the band’s albums, showcasing their enigmatic history while drawing attention to the exploration found in their recent music. Paying homage to their roots, they played “Daydream” from their self-titled album, featuring the classic washed-out punk sound of their origins.. “Daydream,” compared to songs on chamber-pop records like Bunny, felt like a time capsule to another dimension.
As Beach Fossils left the stage, the rain thrashingly poured as if summoned by the concert’s end. In a haze, concertgoers quickly tried to leave the venue as the rain harshly grew, creating a steady rhythm pattering around them as they clamored for the exit or lined up by the merch table. As ears clanged from the venue's noise, one could still hear the hushed heartbeat of the band in the cold rain besieging downtown Austin. Beach Fossils, with their set ending at 10:19 p.m., finished out Levitation Fest with a positive crash while playing to the best of their ability under strenuous conditions. With that, Beach Fossils showed their ability to handle the Texas cold, along with the heat.