Lineup: Heather Daniel, Albert Omstead, Ashley Plocha, Ryan Gay. Shares members with: Soapbar. Influences: Velvet Underground, The Beach Boys, The Ronettes, Dick Dale, The Ramones.

Longtime friends Albert Omstead and Ryan Gay had been collaborating in Augusta for a while before moving to Athens. The duo started Koko Beware as a side project in the winter of 2010 and picked up drummer Heather Daniel after she graduated from UGA and moved back to Augusta. They met guitarist and vocalist Ashley Plocha at a gig in Savannah, and with a complete lineup, decided to put down roots here in town. Koko Beware plays a loose and fun sort of rock and roll with plenty of retro-garage jangle.

The group just released its debut EP in September, forgoing alphanumeric characters in favor of the title "))<>((." You can stream it now via kokobeware.bandcamp.com, and if you dig what you hear, hop over to Kickstarter and help the band raise funds for its full-length project. Koko Beware is just about half-way to reaching its goal, with just a couple weeks left.

Next show: Nov. 26 at Le Chat Noir in Augusta, GA