If you're thinking "wasn't there a Los Javelin record on Green Cookie just last year" you're right, but also WAY wrong. "Surfabilly & Roll" was first released in 2005, then rereleased last year still sounding great. That makes this their first LP in 12 years! And it doesn't disappoint.
You see three people listed as the members of Los Javelin, but that doesn't explain the brass section, bongos, keyboards, extra guitars.... you get the point. This is a production, definitely not your teenage garage surf trio, reminding me of The Barbwires with the Blue Ocean Orchestra and Los Plantronics. However, while The Barbwires' Searider was a grandiose celebration of surf - never losing sight of that sacred guitar sound, Cocktail Caracas is a wandering, roving record that has been around the world but at the end of the day is still a surf record. Take the dramatic "Achtung Lab" which at times seems like a spy song, but switches into B-Movie theremin, then surprises you with a latin beat... underneath it all, almost forgotten, is a surf guitar pluggin' away. That sort of sonic mixture isn't irregular -- "Ska Surf" throws 70's synth, Booker T organ, and sitar at you before it finally hits a ska beat 2 minutes into the song.
There's so much going on here, it's easy to get lost in it, and pulling it apart makes very active listening out of a genre many dismiss as background music.
This is definitely a surf release you want to pay attention to, and from an unassuming place like Venezuela no less! It's clear that these guys have put a lot into this.
Right now it's digital through bandcamp, with a CD release on the way. I'd LOVE for this to find its way onto wax, hopefully in less than 10 years!
