Review by Glen Parkes
Some bands arrive with a sound that immediately tells you where they have been. Others arrive sounding like they have already worked out where they are going. Los Angeles quartet The Bites manage to do both on their long-awaited sophomore album, The Bites, released today, September 18, 2026, through Earache Records.
This is a record built on garage-rock grit, pop-punk energy and a healthy dose of bluesy swagger, but beneath all that noise and attitude there is something more personal developing. The band have clearly grown since their debut Squeeze. They have toured together, lived together, written together and, perhaps most importantly, discovered exactly what sort of band they want to be.
And they sound like they are having one hell of a time getting there.
Opening with Whenever You’re Ready, the album wastes little time getting the engines started. There is an immediacy to the track that pulls you straight into The Bites’ world, where catchy hooks, attitude and raw guitars sit comfortably alongside a sense of reckless fun. B12 and Hold On keep that momentum moving, with the latter becoming one of the record’s standout moments.
At just under three minutes, Hold On doesn’t hang around. It delivers its message with plenty of punch while revealing the more vulnerable side of the band. The accompanying video takes the idea of having a terrible day and pushes it into ridiculous territory, but underneath the chaos is a simple message about hanging onto hope when everything appears to be falling apart. That idea seems to run through the album itself.
The Bites are not afraid to let the walls down.
Lips brings another shot of melody and attitude, while Dancing With The Devil adds another layer of swagger. Pretty Pistol and Aftertaste continue the album’s fast-moving journey, each track helping create a record that never feels like it is standing still.
Then comes Shake Your Thing, which is exactly the sort of title that tells you not to take everything too seriously. Yet that is part of The Bites’ appeal. They can throw themselves into the fun without sacrificing the songwriting.
Carry You Home gives the record another emotional turn, while Playing The Fool returns to the band’s more mischievous side. By the time Waiting arrives, the album has already travelled through plenty of moods without losing its identity.
And then there is Tattoo?, the album’s longest track at 5:24. It gives the band room to stretch beyond the short, sharp blasts that dominate much of the record and provides a fitting final statement.
What makes The Bites particularly interesting is the band’s willingness to write about real experiences and wrestle with what is happening around them without turning the album into something miserable or self-important. There is still plenty of humour, noise and sheer rock ‘n’ roll attitude here.
The band themselves describe Squeeze as a snapshot of a group still figuring itself out. The Bites feels different. This is a band that has lived through the touring, the pressure and everything that comes with trying to build something together, and those experiences have found their way into the songs.
The result is a record that feels honest without losing its sense of fun.
With The Bites, this Los Angeles quartet have taken the foundations of their debut and sharpened them. The guitars still bite, the hooks still hit, and the attitude remains firmly intact, but there is more underneath the surface this time around.
The Bites have grown up without growing old, and that might be their greatest trick yet.
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