April Birthdays 
Penguin or Robot? EP by Urban Surf Kings Review by Noel
Urban Surf Kings are an instrumental trio from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. And they play surf music. They play traditional surf music. They play brilliant traditional surf music. As of this writing, Urban Surf Kings are coming up on their nineteenth anniversary. Penguin or Robot? is their thirteenth release and 3rd 7-inch.
Penguin or Robot? is an interesting release. The 7-inch vinyl 45 comes with four songs, Penguin or Robot?, Agent 6K6, Quick Draw Norman, and Last Chance for Clams. The download includes mp3 files for those songs, plus four more, Trans Ural Express, Snow Day, Surf Monkey, and Quick Draw Norman (unabridged) which is twice as long as the version on the 7-inch. So Penguin or Robot? is actually an 8-song EP. Clever!
So, about the title of the album and the first song, Penguin or Robot? The cover art by Ed Beals shows, well… it shows this:
The painting made such a deep impression on me, I couldn’t resist letting it inform my listening experience.
Penguin or Robot?
That’s right. A robot cowboy riding a samurai penguin is egging on a larger version of the same red robot, holding a broken bottle no less, being controlled by a small penguin inside the chest cavity. I had to ask. And this is what I was told by no less than Rev Hank himself: Ed Beals was in Tokyo working on a film project, and went to the subway station to buy a metro pass. He couldn’t understand what the very pleasant woman in the ticket booth kept asking him. It only made sense to Ed when he looked at the poster she was pointing at. The poster with the penguin or robot designs for metro passes. She was asking him if he wanted the penguin or robot? I forgot to ask which one Ed chose. Penguin or Robot? is a fantastic example of traditional surf music. It would also make a fantastic name for a cartoon series about opposing global spy networks. Hmmm…
Agent 6K6
If Penguin or Robot? is a cartoon series about rival global spy networks vying for world domination, then Agent 6K6 is the world’s most dangerous spy. He even has his own theme song. Every famous spy needs one. Agent 6K6 doesn’t use guns. His weapon is massive amounts of reverb that not only disable his opponents, but in large enough doses converts them into allies. The only effective counter-measure against reverb is excessive levels of distortion. Reverb or distortion, which is more powerful? Will Agent 6K6 prevail? And, what’s at stake in the epic contest between Penguin and the forces of Robot? The sound and feel of this song tells me that Agent 6K6 wins this round. For now. But then there’s…
Quick Draw Norman
Against Agent 6K6 is Quick Draw Norman. For now. He fancies himself a kind of cowboy. He’s something of a loner and quick on his feet. His methods are stealth and surprise. He won’t work for anyone long. He’s just for hire to the current bidder. But he has scruples. He won’t harm the helpless, or surfers. His heart tells him to look out for the underdog. A rebel without a cause of his own, but a soft heart. Will Quick Draw Norman ultimately side with Penguin or Robot? Or will he follow his own path, again? He wants to do the right thing. Which is to play this song. And you will.
Last Chance for Clams
Everyone knows that global spy networks run on clams. Right? The side with the most clams has the winning edge. So the quest for more clams is never ending. What if there were a limited supply of clams? What if controlling the world’s supply of clams meant world domination? What if it just meant your marinara sauce would taste better? Do you prefer red or white clam sauce with your linguini? Me? I prefer this song. Last Chance for Clams is terrific music to eat… er, dance to.
Here ends the last of the four songs on the vinyl half of Penguin or Robot? It’s a cliff-hanger and you have to play the other four songs that come on the download to find out what happens.
Trans Ural Express
Who crosses the Ural by train? It’s a train of adventure, mystery, intrigue, danger. People either talk in hushed whispers so no one can hear, or too loud so everyone hears. The passengers know there are spies on the Trans Ural Express, but who are they? Agent 6K6 and Quick Draw Norman are both on the train. Why are they here? They see each other. Suddenly, to break the tension, a dance troupe – ever notice how often in fiction dance troupes travel by train? – starts playing this song. Is this a diversion? What is this sudden festivity hiding? Could it only just be a really wonderful song that gets your feet tapping along and makes you want to jump up and dance? Could be. Worked for me.
Snow Day
Heavy reverb, deep, throbbing tremolo, and a really, really catchy melody add up to one of my favorite songs on the record. The epic conflict between the forces of Penguin and Robot to control the world’s supply of clams has been interrupted, and everyone’s taking a snow day. Can playing this song bring the two implacable sides together? Can surf music unite the world? Play Snow Day a few times and you just might believe it could.
Surf Monkey
Surf’s up! Surf Monkey is fantastic modern traditional surf music. It’s got it all. Surf beat? Check! Lots of reverb? Check! Two-minutes long? Check! Rolling verse, repeated twice in different octaves? Check! A swinging chorus that leads right into a classic surf guitar break? Check! As classic a surf outro as any? Check! It sounds like surf music has brought Penguin and Robot together. They’d rather have a surf party than fight over clams. Who wouldn’t? Just grab the nearest penguin or robot and dance to “Surf Monkey”. You’ll be glad you did. You’ll feel much better, and the world will be a better place.
Quick Draw Norman (unabridged)
Which brings us to the long version of Quick Draw Norman. This is more than just a longer version of the song on vinyl. It turns out there was more to the story of Quick Draw Norman than was told earlier. Something made him the lone surfer he’s become. It’s here, in this song. To surf or not to surf? That’s always been his quest, not control of clams. He just wants to surf! Let Norman play the second half of the song and he picks out a storm of heavy surf. This is wild rides on big waves kind of surf music. Norman leaves the rest of the surfers sitting on their boards, watching in awe as he stays on for the whole ride, big wave after big wave. He may drive off alone into the sunset, but he’ll appear again, when he’s needed, and he’ll bring the heavy surf with him. Agent 6K6 smiles.
Conclusion:
Penguin or Robot? is terrific. It’s creative, well-played, and well-recorded, with classic surf sound and feel. The songs are all enjoyable to hear over and over, fun to dance to, and every one leaves a smile on my face. The packaging, with the clever cover art for the four-song 7-inch vinyl EP, and the bonus of eight total songs on the download, is I think, a good idea. It blends the best or favorite aspects of the old and the new, just like the music Urban Surf Kings play. There’s vinyl to spin and an easy way to get all that, and twice as much, onto your computer or mobile device. Urban Surf Kings make great surf music. Penguin or Robot? is great surf music.
Urban Surf Kings are:
Rev Hank – Guitars and Farfisa
Crash Flagg – Bass
Inky - Drums
Penguin or Robot? was recorded and mixed by Brad Conrad.
Mastered by J. Lapointe at Archive Mastering.
All songs by Michael Diabo (Socan) 2014
Artwork by Ed Beals 2014
Urban Surf Kings are on the Internet at
www.urbansurfkings.com
and
http://reverbranch.wordpress.com/
Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Surf-Kings/215225301821260
Email Urban Surf Kings at
surfkings@hotmail.com
Music available at
http://reverbranch.wordpress.com/store/
This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.
Last edited: Nov 05, 2014 12:17:17
