USF are often trying to think outside the box. Last year's Penguin Vs. Robot was an interesting release strategy (4 song vinyl EP with 4 extra songs included as a download). This idea isn't necessarily new, or even their own entirely, but one that I haven't seen others do. In homage to the Play Guitar WIth the Ventures albums, they've made an EP that has two songs: Livorno Twist (a tribute to Surfer Joe festival!) and Calafuria Nights. Then it has versions without the guitar, and includes tabs with the download.

If you listen to Storm Surge of Reverb regularly, you might have picked up how much I love the Peruvian take on surf. Bands like Los Belking's, Los Holy's and Los Jaguar's had a truly unique mix of surf rock, psychedelic music and cumbia that come together into something I have heard since from anywhere else in the world.

The Messer Chups don't quit! The Russian trio have been moving at a steady pace of one album every two years (or better). This one's got plenty of the semi-trad off-kilter instrumentals they've been at for a while, but with a small helping of rockabilly and a little more saxophone than we've been accustomed to from them!

Still weird. And the album art plays well to my Louisiana tastes.

This is a live set by Kingargoolas on the Brazillian radio show Rádio Cadillacs. It definitely doesn't have the studio polish you can get from their great 2013 self-titled LP but you've got a lot more songs than you'll find there! That includes a number of covers such as Eddie & The Showmen's "Squad Car" fit to their signature off-kilter syncopation. 

Alabama is a hotspot for instro music. Louisiana is... well, it has some. Mississippi, to my knowledge, has Buddy & the Squids. This is the second release by the lone Mississippi group, and it's more ambitious than their last, with a progressive Mermen-ish sound to it. Unfortunately shortly after the release of this record the band has geographically split up, with their drummer Daniel Guaqueta heading up to California (where he tells me he's been hanging with The Mermen's guitarist Jim Thomas), and the bassist is in Kansas.

I have played a TON of Los Tiki Phantoms on my radio show. They don't necessarily bring anything new to the table, but damn if it isn't ROCK SOLID. "Y El Misterio Del Talisman" looks like it's going to be a mainstay as well, with more upbeat sun-soaked skate-punk surf rock just dripping with fun the whole way through. Check out the video, you'll get it.

Are The Phantom Operators starting to settle on a Western sound? We've had an album called Metal Mariachi Music and now a total of 4 consecutive songs going for a lonely, desolate, spaghetti Western angle. I think it works! These two are on bandcamp for free/pay-as-you-want, and they've said they have an LP on the way.

The Metallica reference on the album art isn't just a gag; this is a cover record and Baleia Mutante's tends to go a little outside the normal surf favorites. On this one we've got instro covers of Nirvana, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Dead Kennedys, and the Live and Let Die Theme.

A while ago Satan's Pilgrims held a kickstarter to fund a trip to Europe and their compilation of singles, live cuts, and unreleased tracks titled "Frankenstomp". That album has found its way into a number of hands since the kickstarter, but for those of us that didn't go that route, we can now buy it too! I've heard great things about it, which is unsurprising because everything they've done has been quality.

Every Trabants release has stuck out to me so far, and this is no exception. Or rather, this is also exceptional. You know what I mean. I'm not sure if I can pinpoint exactly what it is, they just seem to be one of those bands where everything lands in the right place. The drums aren't necessarily showy, but keep things moving in the right way, and really know how to add some punch when they need to. They've always got a good helping of variety and fresh ideas on every album, and the tunes stick with you.