Reviews

Post date: 04/18/2015 - 17:59
Hypnotide - Landlocked

Out of nowhere, Hypnotide appear and release a dynamite LP. Landlocked jumps from great high energy tracks to moody and mysterious slow ones to sleazy, dry stuff effortlessly and cohesively. A pleasant surprise for my Saturday afternoon.Read more

Post date: 04/16/2015 - 07:35
This Machine Kills Robots - A History of Violent Crime in the Darkest Corners of the Ocean Floor

This Machine Kills Monsters have a sound all unto themselves. Metal and surf rub up against each other plenty, but TMKR seem to grab the speed and intensity of metal (and perhaps the drumming) and otherwise stick with modern surf tones and structures. Like The Madeira cranked up to unsafe speeds. On a quick listen, this might be my favorite work of theirs so far: more emotive, more ambitious, and more interesting instrumentation choices, with a big satisfying finish.

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Post date: 04/16/2015 - 07:23
Genki Genki Panic - Ghoulie High Harmony

Genki Genki Panic is a twosome comprised of guitarist Chancho and drummer El Fatsquatch. A little while ago they had a six-song demo EP up, and it's nice to hear how those songs have progressed into a much more polished product, and of course it's nice hear the new tracks that came along the way. If you like horror surf it's well worth a listen.Read more

Post date: 04/10/2015 - 07:57
Ferni and the Vascos - Summer Storm EP

Ferni's was released back in November of last year. He's a one-mand band, though you wouldn't know it by listening. This one's got a narrative to it (roughly Google translated)

In a Pacific island, a few kilometers from the coast, on a yacht, an evening party (Looped Party) is celebrated. Here the guests dance naked in a lustful

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Post date: 04/09/2015 - 07:48
Les Vice Barons - The Model EP

Wow! The\Les Vice Barons released two great LPs back in the 90's and since then I would have presumed they were done. But here we are with a brand new EP. Four songs, including a great version of The Model. I wonder of Kraftwerk knows that their tune has somehow become a surf standard. Anyway, this one's great: it sounds gigantic, and there's some great organ playing all over it.

Here's the bandcamp stream

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Post date: 04/08/2015 - 07:58
The Invisible Surfers - Straight From Hell

It's been a good while since the Invisible Surfers' last LP "Till That Day" and it's great to see them back. They've changed - a lot less fuzz, a lot more traditional reverb-drenched sound, but they've also stayed the same - aggressive, quick-picked, adrenaline-minded. You can give a listen to the previews and purchase it over at Read more

Post date: 04/05/2015 - 17:17
Tarantinos NYC - Surfin' the Silver Screen

The Tarantinos NYC have a new LP out chock full of film soundtrack surf covers. They've been at it for a while though, and they're starting to dig pretty damn deep - a few covers that I certainly haven't heard! They've also written a few originals! I've only heard a few of the samples on CDbaby, but it sounds like it's got a good punch and a good traditional surf sound. You can grab it on...Read more

Post date: 04/01/2015 - 08:03
The Surfin' Barmaids - Mexican Road

The latest from Green Cookie! The Surfin Barmaids started recording their first LP wayyy back in 1998 and they're still kickin out solid surf tunes today. This one's got a good mix of originals and covers. It's also got a limited run 10" vinyl release accompanying it.

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Post date: 04/01/2015 - 07:57
The Reverb Syndicate - Odyssey

The Reverb Syndicate have done spy, space, western... all themes well known to the instro realm. However, the sort of TRON take on this one isn't something that you see much. Love the nerd jokes in song titles like "Hello World" and "Kernel Panic in E Minor"Read more

Post date: 03/26/2015 - 07:34
Dinosaur Ghost - Dinosaur Ghost

After 65 million years of nothing productive, then a few years of a promising demo on bandcamp, these Dinosaur Ghosts have put out an album. And I'd reckon it was worth the wait. It's savage! It's got bite! And there's a fun cover of Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It" too.Read more

Post date: 03/22/2015 - 09:00
Wild Al Hotchkiss and his Aquaphibians - Salty Sea Dawg

While Wild Al isn't normally intstrumental, he's dropped off a nice little 4-song release for us. This is definitely pretty heavily psychedelic, slow, and desolate, sort of leaning towards Thee Oh Sees or Ty Segall, but he lists Ventures in Space as one of the primary influences on this EP. If you've heard anything from The Space Agency, you oughta feel this one.

He's got it at a pay-watchu-want level, including free. Give it a lissen

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Post date: 03/20/2015 - 07:49
The Okay-Men - Auf Kassette

Last time we heard from the The Okay-Men I did some sleuthwork into figuring out just who these mystery men were. Looks like this isn't a one-off side project though, we've got a full LP and in the quick sample listen I did this morning I'd say it's the best Okay/Boo-Men material yet. It's faster, harder, but it's still got plenty of that pogo pseudo-polka beat.Read more

Post date: 03/19/2015 - 07:24
Horse Rock - Men from E.N.C.O.R.E.

Surf is about riding surf boards, but some people like to ride horses. For this we have Horse Rock.

I could continue with horse-related jokes. Something about "galloping rhythms". Then I'd have to think really hard for more parallels. I'd suggest you check out their website instead, it's much funnier than whatever I would say.Read more

Post date: 03/18/2015 - 07:47
The Raulis - The Raulis EP

The Raulis are my kind of band - half loud, rough, slightly psychedelic surf instro, half cool chicha. The two converge in their especially unique take on Pipeline. This is a really fun EP and I can't wait to hear more from them. Love the wild album art too!Read more

Post date: 03/15/2015 - 22:42
skurkarna - in the web of villainy

You (may) have heard of "Crime Jazz" but have you heard any "Crime Rock"?

Skurkarna play rough and tumble instro tunes with clips from noir and crime movies interspersed throughout. Very seedy. For English speakers scratching their heads at the name, I've gathered from the internet that Skurkarna is the plural of Skurk, which is Swedish slang for a villain or scoundrel.

Currently this one is available from a...Read more

Post date: 03/13/2015 - 09:19
King Pelican - Matador Surfer

Years after their well liked EP "The Good, The Bad, and the Reverb", Austin's King Pelican are back with their first LP "Matador Surfer" on Deep Eddy records.

At the moment I don't know of anywhere to stream previews, but this Youtube of a live show should help

You can get it from...Read more

Post date: 03/10/2015 - 07:56
Phantom Operators - Surf Trippin'

The Phantom Operators just released two songs in support of V2 Tuesday (V2uesday?), which is raising money for Bob Spalding and Leon Taylor, current members of the Ventures, to release a new record through Indiegogo. All purchases of this single or their other works will go to V2 today.Read more

Post date: 03/08/2015 - 22:40
Moussaka - Sa Sa

Moussaka plays surf covers of balkan folk pop songs from the 80's. At least that's what they say, and since I can't think of a single example of that genre, I'm going to have to play them. One of the guitarists also plays bass for Threesome, which is reason enough to give it a moment of eartime.

They've got it at a Pay-what-you-want level on bandcamp

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Post date: 03/05/2015 - 20:35
Travelers of Tyme - A Fistful of Dragons

Travelers of Tyme released an excellent and very diverse self-titled LP a over 3 years ago. Though they've updated their bandcamp page with older items (at least I think so, hard to say for a Tyme travelling band), I was really hoping for something new. We finally have something and it includes an instro cover of the Game of Thrones theme.Read more

Post date: 03/03/2015 - 07:56
The Egotones - Egotones the Tape

This one's named Egotones The Tape because cassette is the primary medium for this one. At times it seems pretty standard surfy, but then it'll lapse into unexpected psychedelic territory. Or Spaghetti Western. It surprises! Here, you listen!Read more

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