The reason that I subdivide the Gremmy Awards into so many different categories is because reverbed instrumental guitar music can be and always has been so many different things. "Latin'ia" has a different appeal to it than "Bombora". I often refer to this category as the music with more of a punk and metal influence "added into it", but isn't that circular? You're not going to find much music with the same dark intensity as "Misirlou" before it, and if you ask me you won't find a whole lot of that intensity for a while after! This is not some sort of infusion to weaponize surf music, it's following surf music further down a path that it started.
Honorable Mentions
Beach Moonsters - Black Lagoon Night Surfin'
DREBIN - The Arrival
A lot of bands in this genre go fast, many go loud, but not that many go BIG. DREBIN sound galactically proportioned and suitably epic. After a promising EP in 2019, their full-length really flashes their versatility. If they want, they can go very fast with a pretty overt punk influence, but they can also slow down pretty well, and when they do they border on sounding like post-hardcore or post-punk groups like Cave In or Mogwait as much as they do Man or Astro-Man. And then... there's even a ska track in here? Whatever, it all works well. I hope we get to see more from this group, and from the revived Naked Gun franchise.
The Irradiates - Brodcast All Over the Bayn - The KFJC Sessions
It's been way too long since we've had a proper LP of new material from The Irradiates. And it remains that way, as this is a recording of their live performance on Cousin Mary's show on KFJC (I love that I get a chance to Honorably Mention that here). If you're a fan of the band, there's zero new material here, but if you're a fan you're probably thirsty enough that hearing versions of these songs that have been played enough live to sound extra tight and surprisingly vibrant for a radio recording will do the trick. Plus you get to keep the weird hissy narration of their live set.
Liquid Germs - Return to Earth
I dont' know why so many aggressive surf bands are French, but it's nice to a see a band from Italy in the mix, even if they're from a region that's less than a day's drive from France. This band was originally active in the late 90's and early 2000's, and they no doubt were fans of Man... or Astro-Man? but they're far from copycats, with some proggy but kitschy synths and some really great buzz to their guitars. I'm not clear on whether these tracks were recorded during that time, or remastered, or if they're entirely new, but hit plenty heard enough for now, or for whichever century they prefer.
Gangrena Surf - Codex GS
If I'm parsing things correctly, this is the first proper LP of new material from this Chilean group since their 2014 debut LP Quemar - Hundirse - Profana- Refractar. Since then there's a little bit of a fidelity boost that really only just reveals more detail to their gangrenous sound. This bound sounds dark, scummy, and cursed, and overpowering you with their noise is as important as the songs themselves. Among the bands mentioned here, I'd guess this is the one that sees the most pits at their shows.
The Trinity River Surf Club - Crystal Death; Ballad of the Never Ending Spiral and the Unyielding Depths of Pure Dissolution
On Monday's show I previewed the results of this category and this record was not among them. I was considering it for the "Mad" category. Previously known as Crystal Shit, this band's free-wheeling psychedelic take on surf music slams the door on the foot of traditional surf music's repetitive riff-based structure, emerging as very much their own animal. The way they drift from different moods and burst into flashes of colorful surfish explosions make me think of them as, for lack of better comparison, our equivalent of The Mars Volta. Except with a Spaghetti Western angle tossed in too. So why are they here instead of the category I've made for the undefinable and the rule-flaunters? Because I asked myself how I feel when I listen to them, and the answer was simple: AMPED.
And the Gremmy Goes to...
Arno de Cea & the Clockwork Wizards - Retrofuturisme Vol. III
I don't like giving awards to the same people over and over. It's boring! This year Arno was up against multiple previous winners of this category (including a band he's also in), but really it's them up against him.I've only heard a handful of bands that sound anywhere near as huge as this group (a trio!), but even if you tackle that, he's still rolling out chord progressions that I've never heard that tweak his cataclysmic sound in new ways. And most notably of all, he crafts his albums as a complete whole. There are so many beautiful slower, quiet parts of this album that break up the panic, give room to breathe, and make the loud parts hit so much harder. I don't want every album in this category to do this -- there's plenty to be said for an album that's just an unrelenting din -- but he's able to give depth this listening experience while still staying unassailable in intensity and songwriting. There are so many bands making great, heavy surf music, but none of them bring it all together like Arno de Cea and the Clockwork Wizards, and his music never dips enough to make room. So toss another Gremmy in the pile! I belive this is the fifth (with one honorable mention).
