For almost three decades, The Tremolo Beer Gut has proven that surf music can be far stranger, darker and more cinematic than its clichés suggest. Their seventh full-length, Ask Not What The Tremolo Beer Gut Can Do For You…, pushes that idea further, turning fifteen mostly instrumental tracks into a soundtrack for imaginary characters, shady venues and sun-baked roads after midnight.
Twangy guitars remain the anchor here, but horns, organ, shouts, handclaps, animal sounds, and even an ondes Martenot (I had to look it up: it’s an early electronic musical instrument) broaden the palette considerably. The result feels like a genre-transcending journey, taking listeners from the garage to a tiki bar, from space to spaghetti-western territory, from spy-movie cool to a mischievous sense of danger, and back again.
It’s almost impossible, but the Scandinavian retro-surf-rock quartet shows there are still plenty of places for that reverb-soaked guitar to go. Just as the band members on the cover photo are literally still as young as in their older work, their music sounds as fresh and original as ever. They’ve done their part; all that’s left for us is to listen closely and enjoy the ride.
Ask Not What The Tremolo Beer Gut Can Do for You … is out digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Crunchy Frog / MuSick Recordings. Featuring Jengo (guitar), The Great Nalna (guitar, banjo, pedal steel, organ, piano, gong), Per Sunding (bass), and Yebo (drums, percussion, marimba, vibraphone, timpani, tambourine, guitar), with Petter Lindgård (trumpet), Jens Lindgård (trombone), Christopher Dominique (ondes Martenot, organ), Åge Johnsson (organ), Søren Holck (backing vocals), Anders Wiedemann (backing vocals), Finn Jensen (backing vocals), and Caroline Wiedemann (backing vocals) on select tracks.