Kansas City alt-rock trio Beautiful Bodies' debut album Battles, is available now on Epitaph. The band announced their signing to the label in 2014 and shortly after that they entered the studio with producer John Feldmann for Battles.

Battles positively crackles with energy, yet the band’s feisty attack never overpowers the melodic charm of songs the debut single “Capture & Release”. Whether playing live or recording in the studio, however, there’s no difference in the contagious level of energy and commitment that Beautiful Bodies brings to their music.

When Alicia Solombrino (vocals), Thomas Becker (guitar, drums), and Luis Arana (bass) first crossed paths five years ago, making music together was the furthest thing from either of their minds. Solombrino was busy singing in her own band, playing keyboards in a self-described “art rock project” with bassist Luis Arana; Becker, a former member of Gratitude and a graduate of Harvard Law School, had chucked his musical aspirations in favor of human rights law — at the time, he was living in Bolivia and suing the country’s former president for human rights violations. But Solombrino’s magnetic, high-energy presence and total lack of inhibition immediately convinced Becker that he’d found his artistic soul mate.