No band can make mullets, sailor stripes and surfer rock seem as cool as the electrifying young trio Guantanamo Baywatch. With a live show that will leave you bubbling to your toes and feeling fervently alive, the trio creates a wall of sound that is both raging with punkish energy and that catchy surf reverb that everyone secretly adores.
Jason Powell, lead singer and guitarist, adds the perfect vocal supplement. Over the distorted guitar and steady bass line his voice pops, high-pitched and wavering. Hailing from Seattle, Wash., Powell named and nourished the soon-to-be surf rock band while selling high-quality body creams to international models for minimum wage.
“I came up with the name while I was walking to Slabtown,” Powell said. “I called up Chevelle and originally I told her I wanted to make like a speed surf band where we all wore like Abu Ghraib hoods and put electroids on ourselves and got electrocuted and played really fast while wearing bathing suits. So we started practicing.”
A necessary asset to any fly punk band is a groovy female bassist who rocks platinum hair and performs in bathing suits. Chevelle Wiseman, from the Bay Area, embellishes the Baywatch sound with heartfelt screams, veins bulging from her neck. She’s a die-hard Elvis fan and a recent graduate from PNCA.
The newest addition is drummer Devin Trainer from Portland, holding down the steady punk beats, typically adorned in skimpy tank tops. One can expect painted faces, feathers, blow up sharks and sweaty sailor stripes at any show. Expect the unexpected.
The band puts on a great performance, especially considering how long they’ve been together. They’ve been Guantanamo Baywatch less than two years and only have been playing with Trainer since July of last year. A big part of their success is due to how dedicated they have been, since the beginning, to playing shows.
“We started by taking any show possible,” said Wiseman, “and playing everywhere and never turning anything down. That kicked our ass a little bit.”
“I’m glad we’ve played so many shows because you learn which people want to do those crazy things but actually can’t do them,” said Trainer. “The Burgerville show, which sounds like a crazy idea, is actually going to be a really awesome show.”
Guantanamo Baywatch will be playing at Burgerville this Sunday, encouraging the mass consumption of as many burgers as possible, as quickly as possible. It goes right along with the essence of Baywatch: vulgar, fast-paced and riotous. It will be an evening to remember, to say the least.