I was really looking foward to a new release from Beninghove's Hangmen; their Rattlesnake Chopper EP was the sort of mix of surf, noise, skronk, free-jazz and who-knows that really got me excited. Unfortunately their new LP, though I've listened to it frequently, doesn't really hang out in surfland enough to fit this website.

This live set from SEAWHORES shows a pretty trashy-trad surf sound with a party-ready rock & roll edge. There's some cool saxamaphone in there in there too that gets buried in the lo-fi mix. There are, I think, eight originals on here and they're all well arranged and powerful. I'm a big believer that a lo-fi live recording will always trump a poorly done bedroom recording, but with a full range of well-developed songs like they have here, I wanna hear 'em with a studio treatment - so long as they don't lose that energy! 

The last Gasolines LP was in 2008, but they're still as genre-twisting as they were when they left off. Plenty of bands have had jungle-themed surf albums, but this one sticks to it closely, even if they do it in a broad and multi-faceted way. The title track is the pure Martin Denny sound the cover aludes to, but you'll also hear Peruvian chicha on "La Danza de los Mirlos" and "Catamarã", reggae on "Rockers Rock", and interesting latin/South American percussion throughout. It's this sort of diverse world-surf stuff that makes a musical diet with tons of surf rock digestable.

Odicolon presents an interesting question: why is horror surf so heavy? They do creepy with a light touch with an easy tempo, sparse chilled out guitar picking and oddball electronics. They bring a lot of interesting sounds and ideas to the table and just about all of them work really well. Fans of Messer Chups should certainly take notice, but I hope these guys find a following of their own.

All I've found on these guys is the bandcamp page (free download!), if you find CDs please let me know!

Moussaka is a surf group that covers modern Balkan 80's pop hits and features a member of Threesome. So a cover band in which I will likely never recognize the source songs. Despite their pop origins the songs end up pretty aggressive, though even still pretty unique experimenting with different time signatures etc. If you've kept up with Moussaka so far, this one isn't that much different, but that's perfectly fine. Free download, see what you think.

A few weeks ago Amphibian Man released his 4th LP in the span of a year called "Pyramids". In 2016 he has released something nearly every month, and surprisingly they even seem to improve. During that span of time, he has gone from somebody that piqued my interest to "who the hell is this guy???". So I figured maybe I should just send him an email.

It's real! Belgium's finest have released their first full-length in 12 years! And it's a self-titled too, which honestly makes me a little uneasy. I often feel like a self-titled is a statement of a new sound, new direction, and that would be very understandable after such a long absence. What form are they taking here?

The Me Gustas have shrunk from 3 to 2 members between their last LP and this EP, but it doesn't show. They've doubled down on the spaghetti westerns, and that solitary feel fits a guitar-and-drums combo pretty well. Though short, it's got a fun spirit to it and 50% of your purchase of the EP goes to the organization Guitars Not Guns.

The latest release from Cincinnati's AmpFibians is a big step forwards from their their previous album Surf Guitar Heard Round the World. Purely in terms of production it's much more, well, produced. It has that expansive effect-laden sound that brings out a Mermen vibe that I think was always trying to come out of this band. That especially comes out on the first track, but they have a bit more fun than the spacey Mermen typically do - getting pretty silly on "Wolf Whistle".

The Volcanics aren't the most celebrated band on the Double Crown roster, but they're one of the most solid. While the mailman hasn't brought this one to my doorstep just yet, from Double Crown's descriptions this sounds like more of the same. More of the same means killer trad instrumentals that hit the sweet spot of testosterone and melodic sensibility sitting next to some great upbeat garage tracks. Not to mention I've always thought the production quality on their records hits just the right crispness and tone to get that great energy of the 60's classics.