The first life of Toronto, Ontario’s surf punks Mark Malibu & the Wasagas ended after a few years in 1982, but after their reincarnation in 2014 they are energetically making up for lost time. Their latest full-length album, Knock Me Out!, contains sixteen new instrumentals (including three that we already knew from the year-end list-worthy Pepper Stomp EP), plus a film-like fragment as an intro and a radio-like jingle as an outro. Fans of reverb and twang get what they love, but it’s the original melodies that hit the hardest here.
Knock Me Out!—written and produced by Mark Sanders aka Mark Malibu—is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Sharawaji Records. Featuring Mark Malibu (guitars, organ), Ricky Wasaga (bass), Fast Mike (guitar), Steve Turner (drums, percussion), and Starlotte Satine (go-go dancing).