HIGH HOPES
Taking inspiration from the 70s and 80s is easy. Getting results as good as these guys isn’t.
BEING A NEW, high-octane rock’n’roll band in Los Angeles has its challenges. Tearing through the city’s smallest clubs and bars, crammed onto stages the size of postage stamps, is not for the faint-hearted. Especially when there are five band members to factor in. The Bites have tasted this many times – and they love it.
In a city full of trend chasers, The Bites are injecting the present with the fun of the past, qualities that keep the 80s an enduringly golden age. The rush of Van Halen. The horn-dog swagger of Guns N’ Roses. Ingredients that fuel debut album Squeeze – the title track of which (innuendo-heavy, albeit devoid of actual ‘bad words’) was banned on UK radio for being too provocative.
“It’s sex, drugs and rock’n’roll,” Tyler drawls. “Those are our languages. We probably speak those better than we do English.” There’s some posturing in that statement, but the thrills of rock’s glory days leap out of Squeeze. So full of bravado they even introduce themselves, like big shots, in single Do Me A Favour, The Bites have the confidence to sell this stuff to punters of all ages. The high harmonies and irresistible guitars of Love Affair and Cold Clean Lady could have come from Def Leppard’s Hysteria or Permanent Vacation-era Aerosmith, while glam-blues boogies like Good Love and Do Me A Favour sound like Status Quo with bigger hair.
“They’re all my heroes,” Tyler says. “I wouldn’t be where I am without them. But at the end of the day it��
