Beach Fossils Kick-Off Fall Tour at Jam-Packed L.A. Regent Theater With Crowd Surfing, Deep Cuts (Review)

BEACH FOSSILS
With Launder and Girlpuppy
Regent Theater, Los Angeles
Sept. 11, 2025

It speaks to the fervor of Beach Fossils fans that the very first note of the first song was immediately met with rampant crowd surfing and good-natured moshing, in seeming contrast to the hazy, lazy sound of the band’s songs, which often seem better suited for sitting and contemplating the waves.

But that didn’t stop wave after wave of held-aloft fans at downtown L.A.’s historic Gothic-Revival Regent Theater from providing a lively, jam-packed kickoff for the long-running Brooklyn band’s 2025 fall tour – its first North American headlining run in more than a year. The tour spans 32 dates across the U.S., playing mostly clubs and theaters and concluding in Amherst, Mass. on Nov. 17.

According to Pollstar Boxoffice Reports, Beach Fossils have averaged 624 paid tickets across its 25 most recent headline dates, with an average gross of $15,900.. Despite some left-field career boosts like a support slot on the 2023 North American headline tour by fan Post Malone, the band has yet to scale beyond its place as a reliable mid-sized club act, but their word of mouth continues to grow.

Started in 2009 as a one-man bedroom project by North Carolina transplant Dustin Payseur, Beach Fossils emerged with similarly-named groups like Wavves and Best Coast, whose lo-fi, reverb-drenched mix of jangly surf guitar, dream pop, and garage rock earned the tag “indie-surf” (to the alleged dismay of Payseur, who nearly abandoned the project to avoid being pigeonholed). But after the enthusiastic reception to Beach Fossils’ 2010 home-recorded, self-titled debut album, Payseur gradually evolved the project into a proper band with a bigger, brighter, more melodic sound that’s evident on most recent albums Somersault (2017) and Bunny (2023) – both released on Payseur’s own Bayonet Records.

The current lineup of the band (Payseur on guitar and vocals, Tommy Davidson on guitar and backing vocals, Jack Doyle on bass and backing vocals, and Anton Hochheim on drums) brought an added live vigor to a wide cross-section of the band’s songs. Prior to the tour, Payseur had teased fans with promises of including rarely-played songs from the band’s catalog on this tour, and did not disappoint. Opening with glistening Bunny album track “(Just Like The) Setting Sun,” Beach Fossils mixed fan favorites like “Down the Line”, “Sleep Apnea,” and “What a Pleasure” with deep album cuts like “Twelve Roses” from their 2010 debut and live rarities like the gorgeous, shimmering “Run To The Moon.”

Through most of the band’s songs, Payseur’s uber-laid-back vocal style and daydreamy, nostalgic lyrics made for the aural equivalent of faded Polaroids from bygone summers. Never one for stage acrobatics or excessive stage banter, Beach Fossils bolstered its subdued stage presence with hypnotic new stage visuals that weaved grainy personal videos of the band and its members with abstract images and moody atmosphere.

During “May 1st” from 2017 album Summersault, the venue was bathed in a purple-hued haze of filmed cityscapes. And the crowd joined in the visual act during “Sleep Apnea” from 2013 album Clash the Truth, when Payseur asked the venue to shut off all lights and let fans illuminate the stage entirely with their phones, creating a starry sky of smart devices.

Supporting Beach Fossils on the west coast leg of the tour were fellow dream-pop-infused indie projects Launder and Girlpuppy. Launder, the nom-du-band of Orange County native John Cudlip, endearingly blends the dense, swirling guitar textures of ‘90s shoegaze, drowsy vocals, and simple but affecting melodies into a sound that manages to be both fresh and nostalgic. Girlpuppy (aka Atlanta indie singer/songwriter Becca Harvey) – another dreamy solo bedroom project-turned-touring band – was every bit as musically endearing and lyrically introspective in the live setting as on her buzzed-about 2025 sophomore album, Sweetness.

Beach Fossils is managed by Gold Theory Artists and booked by Wasserman Music worldwide ex-UK/Europe, which is handled by ATC Live.