THE GREBES – The Grebes (2026, LP, Self-Released) 

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Self-Released

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, Black Vinyl, 250 copies

Release Date: 11 July 2026

From the grey and rain-soaked corners of Portland, Oregon, The Grebes emerge with a sound that feels as if it has been dug out of some forgotten garage-psych archive and left to weather under an eternally cloudy sky. Formed around the musical partnership of guitarist/vocalist Bob Desaulniers and guitarist Raf Spielman, the band eventually took shape with bassist Dustin Scharlach in 2021 and drummer Kyle Raquipiso joining in 2025, completing the current line-up. Their musical DNA reaches back to the obscure post-Byrds garage-psych underground, with inspirations ranging from The Bachs, The Dovers, The Contents Are, and The Index, to Love, Red Krayola and the raw, unsettling spirit of Dead Moon and early Black Flag (as their press release describes…).

Their self-titled debut LP, released independently in July 2026, is a wonderfully strange meeting point between melancholy jangle, garage psychedelia, outsider weirdness and a restless punk attitude. Recorded at Red Lantern Studios in Portland in October 2025, its translucent, almost ghostly production gives the ten songs a punky dreamlike quality, while the guitars constantly seem to hover somewhere between fragile beauty and impending collapse. There is something distinctly uneasy lurking beneath the surface of The Grebes: lonely, obscure and occasionally abrasive, yet never without a certain strange beauty.

“The Grebes” contains 10 tracks equally spread on the 2 sides of the vinyl LP album. “Still Flowers” sets the record in motion with a wonderfully dynamic performance, where the soft-punky attitude and lively rhythm stand in perfect contrast to the singer’s characteristically sad voice – a combination that works brilliantly. Beneath it all, the strong influence of late60s West Coast, Laurel Canyon Psych-Country is unmistakable, with The Byrds immediately coming to mind. “Old Guard” remains in much the same scenery, built around jangly guitars and a slightly punkier attitude, sounding like a lost garage-rock track from an unknown late 60s band. “Into The Cold” kicks things up another notch with an aggressive Garage-Punk ’n’ Roller, fast, direct and soaked in 60s inspiration. “Yours” is a genuine punk-a-delic anthem, combining the raw garage attitude of The Leaves with the punky mood of Love’s “7+7” – a killer combination that gives the track a wonderfully sharp edge. “Lonely Smile” closes the A-side in truly astonishing fashion and stands among the album’s major highlights. At 6:15, it is the longest piece on the album, an exhilarating Psych-a-delic Punky Garage Rock ’n’ Roller that somehow brings together the spontaneity of “Secret Agent Man” with the more complex psychedelic language of Painted Faces. Absolutely mind-blowing, this feels like 21st-century impulsive Psychedelia played with the instincts of the 60s.

Side B explodes into life with “Knife”, and for a moment you might honestly wonder whether this is some previously unheard Zakary Thaks recording – until you remember it was made in 2026! At just 1:17, it is a tiny but devastating blast of pure 1966 Garage-Punk, opening the side in a wonderfully mind-melting punk-a-delic fashion. “Portrait Of The World” blends the folk-rock side of The Byrds with the strange complexity of The Index, resulting in yet another irresistible Garage-Punk roller. “Circle” takes a more meditative turn, with Byrds-like 12-string Rickenbacker lines floating through the arrangement and bringing to mind, for some wonderfully inexplicable reason, the dreamy atmosphere of Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “World’s On Fire”. “Back To You” returns to full Garage-Punk attack, sounding like it could have been pulled straight from an undiscovered Nuggets compilation, with The Remains meeting Sean Bonniwell and producing one astonishing garage monster. Finally, “Fight Fire” closes the album with its second extended track at 5:14, and another major highlight. Here Haight-Ashbury Psychedelia meets the sunnier psychedelic spirit of Los Angeles, creating a fantastic piece of 60s-inspired Psychedelic Rock. This is the kind of Psychedelic Rock that countless contemporary bands try to recreate, but very few genuinely manage to capture – because the attitude, the instincts, and, perhaps most importantly, the musical education, simply cannot be faked!

With “The Grebes”, Portland’s The Grebes have created a record that feels both authentically rooted in the 60s and completely alive in the present. Garage, Punk, West Coast Psychedelia and jangly Psych-Country collide with a wonderfully restless energy, while the band’s instinct for melody keeps the whole thing from becoming mere retro worship. Raw, melancholic, unpredictable and occasionally explosive, this is a debut that proves that genuine psychedelic spirit is not about copying the past – it is about understanding it well enough to make something new from it. Invest! TimeLord Michalis

Tracklist

Links

Listen / Get it through THE GREBES Bandcamp