Hypnotzar's debut EP late last year was a welcome surprise and I'm glad we didn't have to wait long for more. Nearly all parts of this record were done by Lev Kuchinsky, but it hardly sounds like a bedroom project and each part is distinct and interesting. "Thermodynamist" has some great interplay between guitar parts and the desolate "Cold Streams of Taiga" has an awesome sense of dread to it. And then we get two really fun covers of songs by At The Gates and Electric Wizard.

It's been a quiet couple of weeks in terms of surf releases. So while searching for more juicy Thai and Cambodian music in advance of an upcoming vacation, I stumbled upon a killer instrumental record I'd never heard of before.

For such a populous part of the world, it's REALLY hard to find a Chinese surf band (I'm counting Taiwan). Los Coronados are particularly interesting though, perhaps more than meets the eye. These guys claim that they are actually Los Coronados Jr., the grandsons of the original Tawianese surf band Los Coronados back in 1965. This is supposedly the digitized reel-to-reels of their original 1965 recording.

I don't buy it.

Vermont isn't a place that I think of as a surf hotspot. Maybe that's why The High Breaks play the brand of no-frills trad surf that they do: because somebody has to. 10 tracks of surf originals with a strong, bold guitar sound and some great melodies. While most of the record is bright, sunny stuff, I was actually surprised how well they pulled off their few moments of creepiness on "Ankle Breaker" and "Voodoo Wave". I'm glad they went with the sound that they did, but I'm thinking of the sorting hat telling Harry Potter "You would do well in horror surf".

The Lucianos are comprised of members of big-time sychobilly bands Demented are Go and The Astro-Zombies (side note: the Astro-Zombies have a few instrumentals tucked away in their records that are pretty cool!). This is their first release and it's being put out by Killjoy Records as a vinyl 7" and cassette. They classify themselves as powersurf and indeed "Think Twice Before Cheating" is relentlessly fast and builds to a powerful crescendo.

If you've never taken the time to look into the late 90's surf group Jonny and the Shamen, here's a great way to do it: everything they've ever recorded plus a few unreleased tracks shoved into one $10 bundle. Their music is hard-hitting surf with horror/space/spy themes not unlike early Man or Astro-Man? - close enough that Jonny joined them as Victor Vector. More recently, he was a part of the Other Timelines on the last year's EP.

Christian Targa plays for the punk band Blind Pigs who have been around since the 90s, and he certainly didn't leave his punk influence behind; my first thought on the opener "Abdução" was Dead Kennedys. Those first three tracks all have a great sense of panic and terror before cooling down a little bit into the more anthemic "Aos Amigos", which still retains a punk guitar tone while ditching the attitude. He doesn't really slow down entirely until "Nova Lua", a nice closing track.

The Apaches hail from Arizona and a bit of open-air desert sound definitely creeps into this. Sure, it's definitely surf and not spaghetti western or anything, but it tends to deal in solitude more than it does in adrenaline. I believe all of these are original compositions and they have a good sense of when to play pretty ("Grim Fandango" is a good example) and when to punch ("Space Chase").

As many of you are aware, Davie Allan has not exactly been hibernating: he's been pumping out new material on a steady basis since the 90s. However, they're usually self-released and on CD. So thanks to Joel Grind he's not only seing a vinyl release, but it's on the legendary metal label Relapse. While tribute albums don't usually feature the artist that tribute is being paid to, it does feel like that's what's happening here and it's all very fitting.

Tsunamish have been on a steady one-EP-a-year release schedule so far, and this should please if you've been a fan of them this far. For the most part it's upbeat modern-traditional surf rock, though there's a bit more of a punk sound on their Bad Religion cover of "We're Only Gonna Die" and they have vocals on their cover of Holly Golightly's "There is an End".

I've always enjoyed Tsunamish's album art and though the woman on the cover is certainly not showing Amish modesty, this is probably my favorite so far.