Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Kabbs

Sponsored

“I came from NASCAR country,” says singer Brian Clinebell of the Kabbs. In summer 2010, he was living in a North Park duplex with then-bandmates Kyle Whatley (guitar) and Brandon Whatley (drums). “[Kyle and Brandon] came from rodeo country.”

“And I came from Orange County,” said bassist Chase Elliott at the time. “I had to hide my monocle and tuxedo when I got here.”

The Kabbs played their first show (and the first live performance for everybody in the band except Chase) on Halloween 2009, at a North Park house party with the Old In Out. Their set grew out of living room jam sessions between Brian and the Whatleys, who met skateboarding at Mission Beach in 2001.

“We got stoked on a song, recorded it...and all of a sudden we came together into a band,” Red Bluff native Brandon said.

The band has since played nearly every bar in town, including Johnny Rad Fest with the Zeros at Ken Club.

“Everyone says we sound like the Doors because Brian has long hair,” said Chase, half joking. In beyond-shoulder-length hair, beard, and aviators, the southwest Virginia–born singer certainly does recall the Lizard King. His vocals hint at a sound somewhere between Glenn Danzig and a whisky-sodden Morrison. Others have likened the Kabbs (pronounced “cabs”) to the Seeds, Wolf Parade, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

“We want it to be very simple and very natural,” says Kyle of their psychedelic garage rock. Accordingly, Brian’s lyrics tend to focus on timeless rock-and-roll themes of “girls, love, life. Ya know, as you grow older, what the f--- are you gonna do?”

Lyrics such as “I don’t need no redirection, I just want your affection” and “Your love is an uphill battle, my engine’s running hot, I can only take so much, before I fall apart” exemplify the Kabbs’ unassuming yet resolute energy.

In summer 2010, the band released a five-song EP recorded live with Mike Kamoo at Earthling Studios in El Cajon.

Whatley described their worst show at the time. “At the South Park Walkabout, we played in the front yard of a house. We unfortunately overindulged in some alcohol consumption - by the time we were ready to play, we were unable to perform to our best ability. We were basically individually playing our own rhythms! Also, we had some tech issues with our guitar amp being shut-off in the middle of our set. It was a classic experience that we all really would like to avoid in future performances!”

Drummer Brandon Whatley was replaced by Ashley Brus, who left the band in Autumn 2013 to concentrate on a different instrument, violin. By 2015, Tyler Ward was the band's drummer.

A new 7-inch was released in October 2015, featuring the single "Really Don't Know You," with a revised lineup featuring Brian Clinebell, Tyler Ward (Oh, Spirit and Exfriends), and Ryan Combs (Oh, Spirit). Kyle Whatley (Tropical Popsicle) would soon rejoin.

"We've been working on our full length over the past year," reported the band in early 2020, as they released a new single, "Something to Lose," preceding a full-length due that Spring.

Sponsored

Upcoming Local Shows

No shows scheduled

Post a show View show history
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader