When you're always on the lookout for surf groups, it helps to have a good gut feeling for them based on the name of the band and album, maybe even the songs. That's true for both the new stuff and the vintage stuff. The Baltic Side would have failed that test: The band name doesn't sound surf, "Hope" isn't really something I associate with surf, neither are song titles like "Believe", "Pilgrim", and "Rainbow". Nothing wrong with those names, they just don't register as a blip on my surf radar.
However, the music passes with flying colors! It's immediately powerful, and keeps that kinetic energy throughout. They sing a lot of "whoooaaaa"s, which does add a slightly different feeling than straight surf. The guitar work can get pretty interesting too, especially on "Rainbow". All in all, these four songs are absolutely worth your time, and I'm looking forward to seeing where they would go with a full length.
They've got this one up on bandcamp, but they'll also sell you a CD for super cheap over on their facebook page if you're on their side of the ocean.
