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.

The latest from Marshall and the Martins keeps it pretty trad surf - despite banjo in the second track and apparently some bagpipes somewhere. Though that second track "Weston" is a good one, the more it sticks to a trad surf sound the more I found myself enjoying the songs. "Bundamba", "Mulliwippi" and "Maxwin" all did a great job of tapping into a 60's locked-in mindset and surf mood, while the beach party numbers like "Steley" and "Melton" have that squeaky clean sound that a bedroom/collaborative album such as this one often has.

The latest from Australia's surf guitar maestro. You've got 5 tracks on this one, four originals and of course the cover of the classic Sleepwalk. As can be expected from Cilia, production is slick as all get-out with reverbed electric guitar floating on for miles on Sleepwalk. I've only heard the snippets below of the originals, but it looks like they've got a solid breadth and some fresh ideas.

The Surf Mist make their debut with this 4 song EP. Their sound has trad beginnings, but with small moments of surprsingly tricky jazzy/progressive sounds. Fun and sunny release throughout.

Melbourne's Beware! Black Holes have a nice mix of covers and originals here with a classic reverbed surf sound. This is simple trad stuff, just how ya like it.

Marshall and the Martins have a blisteringly fast release cycle going, but please don't stand in the way because it seems to be working. This is the best of their stuff so far, with clean but punchy production and great variety. If they're going for something fun and bouncy, it bounces, if it's slow and creepy like the title track, it creeps. It sets out what it wants to do and the results and satisfying!

Marshall and the Martins hail from Australia and were very recently known as Slowpoke Rodriguez. In fact, they very recently released an album called The Purple Thing only two months ago under that name. Two albums in less than three months --- clearly not slowpokes. A pretty nice trad surf album. On a quick listen my favorite is "Dammit Ferricks"