MEET THE BAND: Lydia Night (vocals, guitar), Genessa Gariano (guitar, backing vocals), Brooke Dickson (bass guitar), Drew Thomsen (drums)
SHE LOVES ROCK 'N' ROLL: Night, 18, says she can remember listening to the Ramones and Joan Jett when she was just a child. Both acts left a lasting impression. "I was really obsessed with [Joan Jett] when I was young and would put on Joan Jett performances," she says. "Those are the big two that I know had a lot to do with me being a musician. I saw the Donnas play when I was 5, and that's when I made the full-on decision that that was what I wanted to do." Night formed her first band, LILA, when she was only 7. After that band called it quits, she would then start up Pretty Little Demons, and that band would morph into the Regrettes in 2015
LIKE GOING TO SUMMER CAMP: The group teamed up with producer Mike Elizondo (Eminem) for its full-length debut, 2017's Feel Your Feelings Fool!, and Night likens the experience of making the album to going to summer camp for five weeks. "Mike [Elizondo] is like a second dad to me," she says. "He became that through this process. I had to go in early. I went in at 9 a.m. every day for five weeks and then everyone else came in. It was the same thing every day, but it was so much fun. I had never recorded in a studio like that. His studio is so beautiful and there were people who would help us with everything. If I forgot my pick, they would have a giant box of every pick ever." Elizondo was again at the helm for the forthcoming, How Do You Love?, a concept album featuring what Night refers to as "confused love songs."
WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: How Do You Love? shows off Night's melodic sensibilities. She has a fondness for '60s girl groups, and that influence comes across in songs such as "Pumpkin." Night's husky vocals and driving guitars give "California Girls" and "Dress Up" real power, and the frivolous, catchy "I Dare You" could pass as a Gwen Stefani song.
WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: theregrettes.com.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: The Regrettes perform with Hot Flash Heat Wave and Forager at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3, at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights.
