Recently the surf radio show Heads Up! with Carmen Ghia put on a monster 11-band showcase of Seattle's surf/instro groups. On that roster was a band called Via Combusta, who have been playing Seattle surf shows for a while but seem largely unknown outside their home turf (and was certainly unknown to me). This 7" was slated for a release this fall, but waddaya know, they were ready to go earlier than expected, which is seemingly never the case these days. I think they deserve a little attention.
Via Combusta sound as furious as their name suggests, always keeping a frantic pace, and the two guitars keep a tone similar enough that it feels like notes are spilling out faster than you can handle, though there's still noticeable melodies and memorable riffs rather than noisy din. They're clearly Astro-influenced, with similar whammy-bar-ness and sense of adventure and danger, though not quite as reverby as spacey. All four tracks are a blast, and I'm looking forward to more.
