Meatbodies

Chad Ubovich, a longtime fixture on the California garage punk and new psychedelic scene, moved from sideman to bandleader with the Meatbodies, whose sound is hard-hitting and full of potent guitar work, but also brimming with bent but pop-friendly melodies and hooks. The Meatbodies first came together in mid-2012, when Ubovich was playing guitar in Mikal Cronin's road band; while Cronin was in between tours, Ubovich began playing shows with a handful of friends, which included Cory Thomas Hanson, Erik Jimenez, and Riley Youngdahl, using the name Chad & the Meatbodies. Ty Segall was impressed with Ubovich's new music, and Segall released a cassette-only collection of his home recordings on his own label, God? Records. The tape quickly sold out, and in 2013 Segall recruited Ubovich to play bass in his band Fuzz, but in 2014 he started putting his focus back on Meatbodies, and noted garage punk label In the Red signed Ubovich and his group to a deal. In May 2014, two songs from the out-of-print cassette were released as a vinyl 7" by In the Red, and in October 2014, the first full-length Meatbodies album arrived. While Hanson, Jimenez, and Youngdahl participated in the sessions for the Meatbodies album, Ubovich put together an official lineup of the group for subsequent touring, with Ubovich joined by Patrick Nolan on guitar, Killian LeDuke on bass, and Ryan Moutinho on drums.