Taking inspiration from shoegaze, jangle pop, new wave, and 80s radio rock—but bearing only a passing resemblance to it—The Rightovers make music that’s at once surgically focused and richly kaleidoscopic. Imagine The Cars fronted by Kevin Shields or early Cure playing Pyschocandy, and you’ll be somewhere in the ballpark.
The Rightovers began as an outlet for Chris Holmes’ songs following the dissolution of his previous band. The twee sound of debut Blue Blood (Jigsaw, 2014) gave way to something noisier with the addition of co-songwriter Matt Baab, as heard on follow-up Die Cruisin’ (2018).
Following its release, Matt and Chris joined forces with local rhythm section Lumpy (drums) and Marcos (bass) to start gigging around San Diego. It was this lineup that played on the Kruise Kontrol EP (Jigsaw, 2021).
Kruise Kontrol featured muscular arrangements and heightened production values, and yielded a “Local Break” from San Diego radio station 91X, which played “Camera Kid” on regular rotation.
The forthcoming Exhaust goes where their past records have not, pairing the wall-of-sound production of ‘80s legend Mutt Lange with the band’s trademark minimalism. It’s a work that references the past but pushes the indie rock medium forward—a pop sound for right now.
Press
- Austin Town Hall – Kruise Kontrol stream + description
- Ghetto Blaster Magazine – Kruise Kontrol review
- San Diego Reader – Die Cruisin’ era feature
- KUSI News – Rightovers live performance
- Indiependent – Blue Blood review
- Austin Town Hall – Blue Blood review
- When You Motor Away – Blue Blood review
- Victrola – Blue Blood review
- Metro HNL – Rightovers feature
THE RIGHTOVERS 