In the past few years surf has finally being sneaking in nods to another nostalgic form of instrumentals: video game themes. Off the top of my head, there's Amphibian Man's Contra covers album, Zelda themes from likes of...Read more
Reviews
Post date: 07/02/2020 - 20:51
In a genre where originality is admittedly optional, The Surfin' Surfers almost embrace that low bar with their name, 3-color artwork, and the lack of original songs. However, I still quite enjoyed their debut "Surfers' Surf' and even bought the 7".
Their follow-up "Still Surfin'" is apparently scraps from that session deemed not good enough, but these scraps are still better than plenty of surf bands I've heard. These covers are pretty by-the-book, but they've got just...Read more
Post date: 03/31/2020 - 14:47
The title "Poolside with" may seem somewhat generic, but it's actually a bit of a clue. The Bluebottles aren't out to capture the adrenaline rush of a monster wave, it's a lighthearted album full of party music. Even though opening track, though lively, features an acoustic guitar lead, aiming to greet with an active dance floor rather than an overwhelming salvo.
However, this is also a cut above your average hawaiian-shirt clad grandpa...Read more
Post date: 03/20/2020 - 09:10
Genki Genki Panic stands at an unlikely intersection between Mike Patton, Cave In, John Carpenter, Danny Elfman, surf music, and nerddom. Their own description of this album is that it was supposed to be an epic noise/surf concept album, and it seems it languished and they were like "eh, it's the apocalpyse right now, let's just push it out." Oddly enough, I think it settles into something that feels just about right for this band.
Most of these tracks are labelled...Read more
Post date: 03/11/2020 - 19:17
The fourth LP from Coffin Daggers is perhaps a bigger turn than having a google-eyed bongo-playing demon on the cover: it's a cover record! Of eleki tunes! For those unacquainted, Eleki is a Japanese instrumental rock & roll music, highly Ventures influenced, typically with very sharp, staccato guitar tones. Admittedly, Eleki is a bit of a weak point in my instro knowledge -- I always kind of hoped I'd go to Japan and blindly buy anything that vaguely fit the bill and learn from there...Read more
Post date: 03/11/2020 - 19:08
You know what they say about the eventual fate of good things, and in this case it's cool skulls on The Apaches album covers. It does not appear that this was their secret ingredient, however as this is my favorite record yet from them.
Skulls aside, this is not a big departure from this Phoenix-based group, and it's been hard to nail down why this particular release feels so good. They've always walked a line between straight surf and spaghetti western (often with...Read more
Post date: 02/05/2020 - 14:14
Last year there was an unfortunate collision of interests for instrumental music fans: two documentaries on The Ventures, each seeking crowdfunding at the same time. Stars on Guitars appeared to have suffered more from that conflict, raising considerably less than Walk Don't Run with roughly a third as many donors. However, this clearly didn't shake the team for Stars on Guitars, as their film readies for release while...Read more
Post date: 11/22/2019 - 13:40
Surf-a-Tomica made their debut earlier this year with a flashy 7-song release full of great guitar lines and a great, punchy beat. Did they know they were going to release another 7 songs within the same year? While a full album would have suited them well, they took a good formula and made it great here....Read more
Post date: 11/22/2019 - 13:12
The Tourmaliners (named after Tourmaline Beach) are billed as a 60’s throwback band, but I suspect this like likely designated for gigs around town. For us picky surf fans, I hear a throwback to an unexpected time: 2nd wave surf! If I were to listen without context, I’d pin them right square at 1990, particularly with the reverbed drum treatment, and flavor of the reverb altogether. In fact, if you want a good frame of reference I’d point you to The Pixies’ version of “Cecilia Ann” off their...Read more
Post date: 10/16/2019 - 08:32
Chewbacca’s have released two great Astro-Man styled records back in 2002, resurfaced with a great split LP with Espectroplasma in 2012, and that’s it until now with this full LP on Sharawaji Records.
The Astro-influence remains strong with this group, adopting very similar guitar tones throughout and of course sprinkled with all sorts of sci-fi sound clips. The production is a little more cushy than their previous releases, with more bass and guitar not quite as...Read more
Post date: 10/16/2019 - 08:03
Stereophonic Space Sound Unlimited would be one of the best at their genre if they didn’t feel like their own genre. If each LPs sounds similar to the last, I believe that’s OK because nobody else sounds like them and that sound has been pretty tightly designed since LP1.
There has been growth though, even if it’s subtle. The opening track “Rocket TX7” is a great example. Guitar is used sparingly, hardly the front-and-center instrument -- if there even is one, but...Read more
Post date: 10/09/2019 - 08:30
Every Durango14 album has built significantly on the last one, and while 2016’s Vol. 3 was very close, I believe this is the album they were striving to make.
This is a big, explosive sounding record that’s always charging ahead and keeping the energy peaked, but it’s also a sonically diverse one. The latin-styled percussion on the first track launches straight into a party atmosphere. And that’s one thing I heard about their great performance at Surfer...Read more
Post date: 09/20/2019 - 10:10
The initial few EPs from Les Robots were immediately exciting: they were bar-none the best modern Joe Meek sound-alike that I'd heard. Thankfully, they didn't keep us waiting for long to hear a full-length, and I think it delivers on the promise of those EPs.
A big part of the reason I invoke Meek here is the prominent clavioline, a signature ingredient of the sound of The Tornados, The Moontrekkers and the like. That electric honk is so weird and strange, and yet very...Read more
Post date: 09/13/2019 - 11:43
Let's Fly to Mars is a high-profile, long-term, cross-continental collaboration between Jeremy DeHart known primarily from The Aqualads, El Firetone from El Ray, Dr. Boris from Messer Chups, and Dane Carter from The Madeira. Jeremy lays out the story in detail in...Read more
Post date: 09/10/2019 - 08:02
The Sharawaji Records roster has been growing steadily and adding more high-profile releases. They recently grabbed some attention for the upcoming Chewbacca’s record, but meanwhile this little gem snuck under the radar. Black Valley Moon features the guitarist from Epitaph punk band Down By Law, but they do a great job of carving out a unique surf that feels accomplished and comfortable within the genre.
The one funny thing here is that their bark is definitely worse than their bite...Read more
Post date: 09/10/2019 - 07:35
I don’t know much about French surf power trio Beach Moonsters but they quickly had me thinking of another prominent French group: Hawaii Samurai. They’re tastefully clipped to sound loud, play fast, and generally keep it pretty stupid and fun. There’s one slower one “Before the Death of the Gringo”, but it’s by no means any softer. It’s hard to find much to say here, if power surf is your thing, I think your interest will be piqued.
...Read more
Post date: 08/09/2019 - 11:53
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...Read more
Post date: 07/26/2019 - 11:39
In 2015 Los Freneticos’ album El Sonido Que Perdura was anointed with my Gremmy award for best Trad Surf record of the year (man, I was playing fast and loose with the word "trad" then...). It’s a record that bursts with energy, exuberance and playfulness. Teletransportacion is the follow-up to that record, and though...Read more
Post date: 07/20/2019 - 14:37
3 releases in less than a year, perhaps Amphibian Man is getting back to his previous furious pace. Though Metal Goes Surf went back to slapping some reverb on that guitar, these 7 songs are about as dry and punk-sounding as they've ever been, to the point where I'd consider this instro-punk instead of instro-surf.
But for fans of Amphibian...Read more
Post date: 07/20/2019 - 14:19
Cat Sith (or Catsith, they never seem to settle on that) have released 3 EPs and 2 LPs since April of 2018, and every subsequent release gets a little more poisoned.
Their sound definitely is rooted in surf, reverbed out guitar and all, drums, upright bass and often saxophone or even some bongos. But they're getting better and better at using them tastefully wrong. The reverb rings out a bit longer than comfortable levels, and there might even be some very subtle...Read more
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