Surf Music

New single: The Greasy Gills || Corn Cob Racer / Meat Swamp

Two twangy, reverb-drenched instrumentals to play loud

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The Greasy Gills, the Oakland-based rock ‘n’ roll trio featuring Jordan Steer (guitar), Sam Benedetti (bass) and Gracie Malley (drums), have a new 45 out that’s too nice not to share. Both Corn Cob Racer and its flipside Meat Swamp are surfy rockabilly instrumentals with earworm riffs. Reverb-drenched and full of twang (high octwang, as they call it, and as it should be), but also gripping and irrepressible. If you want to dance like crazy, just put this one on your turntable.


Corn Cob Racer b/w Meat Swamp is out now digitally and on 7″ vinyl through MuSick Recordings / No-Count Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Beverly Bomber || The Lungs

Sunny tunes that are loose and lean

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Palm Springs trio Beverly Bomber’s debut EP The Lungs kicks off strongly with Twenty-Nine, a song that sounds like a blend of garage pop and indie rock through a late ’70s pop punk filter. It’s an early highlight on what turns out to be 21 minutes of sunny tunes that are loose and lean, or as the band puts it themselves: “Coachella Valley Freak Pop.” RIYL: Surfer Blood, Wavves.

EP out now on Witch Tree Records.


Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Cowabunghouls || Guac, Don​’​t Run

Cool “Rest Of” Compilation

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Not too long ago, we wrote about 3-song single The End of the World, but St. Louis, Missouri-based horror surf trio Cowabunghouls have been recording more cool music lately, which they now bring together on this 19-track compilation Guac, Don​’ ​t Run. These are energetic instrumentals, in which surf rock meets spaghetti western music, with original melodies and trashy reverb. Whether it concerns their own tunes or a cover like Do You Wanna Dance?, it is all equally contagious.




Guac, Don​’​t Run is out digitally. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Boss Martians || Venus & The Western Sky

The Foster Brothers are back with a bang

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After a long hiatus, Seattle-based surf rockers The Boss Martians are back with a bang. Brothers Evan Foster (guitar) and Erik Foster (Fender Bass VI), joined by Bryan Manzo (sax) and Nick Schultz (drums), have released their cinematic Venus & The Western Sky EP featuring six electrifying instrumentals. Years of bottled energy and inspiration find their way into original themes and inspired playing where guitars, drums and sax push each other to great heights, truly extraordinary.


Venus & The Western Sky, written & produced by The Foster Brothers, is out now digitally, on CD and turquoise blue 12″ vinyl, through MuSick Recordings. Cover art by Scott Sugiuchi.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New single: Cowabunghouls || The End of the World

Trashy reverb rarely sounded so appealing

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It’s only been two months since Cowabunghouls released their album Ghoul Bus, but already the St. Louis, Missouri-based horror surf trio is back with new three-song single The End of the World. You know exactly what to expect from a band with ‘Crank The Reverb’ merch, yet the instrumentals here are quite divers and original. Opening tune Miles County Clown Costume is a catchy floor filler (handclaps!), the guitar melody of the title track makes the theme a lot more bearable (despite the ominous voices in the background), and San Gringo Peligroso has a cinematic and moody spaghetti western sound (a modern classic).

The End of the World, written by Brandon Larson, is out now digitally.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Del Roswells || Operation Roswell

Surfing the airwaves like it's 1956

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British surf rock vehicle The Del Roswells has been traveling through space for a few years, leaving a trail of EPs behind. Under the codename Operation Roswell, they have now dropped their first full-length album, featuring twelve almost entirely instrumental songs (some screams and soundscapes can be heard), which serve as a “soundtrack to the intergalactic sci-surf alien invasion.” Many of the tunes were available before, which almost makes it feel like a greatest hits collection, but either way it’s nice to fly with these four nimble-fingered musicians for a little longer, although I am not sure we are safe with them.



Operation Roswell is out now digitally. Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Babalooneys || Late to the Party!

Canadian surf rockers wash away an endless winter

By / / Surf Music / 1 Comment

Although it’s been over sixty years since Dick Dale developed the surf sound and made audiences dance to it, it has proven to be a timeless genre, at least in our world. So there is no need for Québec-based surf rockers The Babalooneys to apologize for being Late to the Party! with their full-length debut. Although an Endless Winter is literally central to this album, Richard Bourque (guitar), Jean Sirois (guitar), Antoine Pelletier (bass), Martin Dorval (saxophone) and Chany Lagueux (drums) do everything within their power to raise the temperature to bikini levels. We get nine original instrumental tunes that come across as long-forgotten classics, plus successful covers of King Of The Surf (originally by The Trashmen, and the only track here with vocals), Oceanside (The Super Stocks) and Mr. Rebel (Eddie & the Showmen). Exciting but refreshing, with every note on point.



Late to the Party!, produced by Shorty Poole, is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Hi-Tide Recordings.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Hi-Tide

New EP: Girafe || Matin​é​e for Mad Creatures

Stockholm 4-piece mixes cumbia and surf on sunny debut

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Don’t be put off by the dark and messy cover art – the four songs on Matin​é​e for Mad Creatures sound actually quite smooth and sunny. It is the debut EP from Swedish indie pop outfit Girafe, on which Julia Sjöström, Nathalie Appadu, Mattias Robertsson and Robert Wadeskog charmingly mix tropical cumbia, vibrant surf rock and psychedelic dub. They kick off with the infectious, instrumental title track, continue with attractively sung Lavoe Shades and Mountain Merengue, and close with another instrumental tune, Left the City Burning. These are thirteen exotic and idiosyncratic minutes, a laid back and sun-kissed introduction to a promising band.


Matin​é​e for Mad Creatures is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Magnatech || Europa

A quirky invitation to fly off to places you would long to be whilst listening to these instrumentals

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Magnatech aka Johannes Bernardus Verhoef, currently based in Bocholt, Germany, is back with sixteen new two-minute songs in which surf pop, exotica and Indorock merge. Europe, his fifth LP, is a kind of concept album that brings America and Europe together. Or as the artist puts it: “Some tunes will invite you to be on the beach riding your surfboard on the beaches of Biscaya, whilst others will bring you back to the atmosphere in early sixties Dutch and German dancehalls.” I experience it as quirky pop art in which exotic instrumentals are interspersed with well-known tunes, sound effects and spoken word snippets – nods to high and low culture. In terms of cover design it’s Magnatech’s least attractive release to date (compare it with Herr Magnatech Bittet Zum Tanz or De Favorieten Expres!), but – more important – musically it’s a trip that’s at least as entertaining and colorful as ever.



Europa is out now digitally and on CD through Sharawaji Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: The Currie Brothers || The Curse Of The Currie Brothers

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I found quite a bit of nice surf rock in my listening pile this week, but nice isn’t good enough to bother you. New EP The Curse Of The Currie Brothers is a different story though, because with these six instrumental songs I can vividly imagine how the audience will go wild on it in a sweaty pub. Original, raucous tunes, delivered with passion. We’re talking about Andrew Currie (guitar) and Rob Currie (guitar) – hence the band name – who, together with Seamus Saunders (bass), Jared Davis (drums, percussion) and Kristian Noel Pedersen (keyboards), give the surf genre a trashy garage punk twist, and that works out very well. Dirty and dangerous, definitely worth sharing.


The Curse Of The Currie Brothers is out now digitally (self-released).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

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