sorry ahead of time if anything I say is already covered, but I want to reply while its fresh in my head, and not read all 4 pages or replies.

on one hand I agree with Ivan, I am very surprised at the lack of discussion lately. But some may not be great reviewers/writers, but that doesn't stop someone from chiming in and saying hey I got X cd, its great, or sucks, buy it or don't.
But when you consider that there are over 1000 people on sg101, and only about 50 to 100 post, its not surprising that some people only want to read sg101 and not post. If they do post its not about cds,(except the few of us that do).
For me I know there are tons of cds out there that I would like to buy, but am limited on how much money I can spend on cds. I wil buy a cd I don't have from a store or a show if its front of me, but I'm really bad about going to web sites, and ordering stuff, because I usually end up spending around 100 bucks and that hurts the wallet.
But saying that I also am more of a proponent(is that the right word?)
of talking about shows more, before and after,
My big rant is that I live here in so cal where there are about 50 bands, and we also have alot of visiting bands, and many of the surf fans I know are happy with just going to see the well know old guy Hawaiian shirt bands, but don't care or for that matter even know about smaller bands, or the very good visiting bands. I have asked people if they are going to see X band at X venue, and they say who? where? then I say there is a thread on it on sg101, and they say, oh I dont read alot of stuff on sg101
and I only want to see x bands.
I get very frustrated in that.

But for those that don't live where there are as many shows, I can see why a lack of cd respons may seem more important.

Ok i'm off my soapbox now.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Last edited: Nov 09, 2007 16:34:46

IvanP
Forgive me for the following rant, but this has been on my mind for a while now and I finally had to let it out.

I love SG101. I'm an SG101-holic - and proud of it. I think our world is a much better place with SG101 in it. There are amazingly cool and talented and knowledgable people on this site. But! (You knew that was coming, right?) I'm absolutely blown away by how little discussion there is about actual surf music, ESPECIALLY new surf music. Why? Is it that people don't really know how to talk about and analyze music? If so, fine. But I get a feeling that a lot of people around here don't care about what new bands are doing, and maybe in some cases even what many classic bands have done. Sure, there are the concert reviews. But where are the CD reviews? Where are the discussions of new releases? It's possible that the new releases don't stack up to the classics of the genre, but I think a lot of good stuff is still coming out. Why is there so much apathy? I really don't get it, and it frustrates me. I love this music very deeply, and I love that there are surf bands playing around the world. I want to support these bands by buying their CDs, but I also love hearing what they come up with. In some cases I think they come up with music that's as good as any of the classic stuff. But I seem to be in a small minority of people around here that are interested in that. Here's some of the new surf releases I picked up over the last year:

The Surfites: Big Pounder
Daddy-O Grande (Danny Amis) & Lost Acapulco: In Mexico
Los Kahunas: El Fantastico Sonido Surf & Hot-Rod de
The Phantom Four: Madhur
El Ray: Highwave to Hell
The Illuminoids: Secret Society of Surf Guitar
The Ghastly Ones: Target: Draculon
The Pyronauts: Surf & Destroy
Martin Cilla (of the Atlantics): Revenge of the Surf Guitar
Los Jets: 40 N - 3 W
The Sadies: Tales of the Rat Fink
Glasgow Tiki Shakers: In Venice
The Beloved Invaders: Tamarindo
Daikaiju: s/t

(There may have been more, but this is all I could come up with off the top of my head.)

There's been pretty much no discussion of any of these - on the main surf music forum in the world!!! There was some about the Surfites, mostly cause Klas is a member here, and a bit about the Ghastly Ones new one, but other than that, very little, as far as I can remember.

So, what's going on? Why are people not talking about these? Why are more people not interested in buying these? Is our scene all about each one of us playing but not really giving a damn about what the other guys are doing, and not supporting their releases?

(BTW, in case you're wondering if I'm bringing this up because of the Madeira sales, I'm really not. We've done OK with sales, and I'm not frustrated about it - though ask Sean, he may be!)

I just wish there was more interest in and more discussion of the great music that other surf music lovers around the world are producing. And more visibility! I've always tried to talk about the CDs that I've really enjoyed, but few people do the same. So, what's going on, everybody?

Ivan

All of a sudden I've gotten this terrible feeling I get in a discussion based class when no one has anything to say.

Please don't call on me Professor Ivan...

"as he stepped into the stealthy night air... little did he know the fire escape was not there"

https://www.facebook.com/reluctantaquanauts/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDragstripVipers/

This post has been removed by the author.

Last edited: Sep 27, 2009 22:33:03

zak
Why feel bad? It's all subjective...we can't all like the same things where music is concerned.

In all fairness I'd probably enjoy seeing Slacktone play live. There's quite a few bands I enjoy seeing live but would never think of putting on their CD at home.

Zak,
if you do ever get a chance see Slacktone live.
I know people who liked them by only hearing their cd's and I told them, just wait till you see them live. And they said how much better could it be?
Its night and day!! Not saying that the song structure is going to change, but there is a energy and vive that they put out, that is not on their studio recordings. A friend of mine that really likes the LOS Straitjackets, finally saw Slacktone last night with Davie Allan, and was Blown away.
He still likes LSJ"s better, but Now he understands why I am so enthusiastic about them.
I can dig if somebody doesn't like a bands certain sound/style/vibe.
But When they do say something about the band they dont' like, they say that they suck. It could be that the band is compentent, but just had a bad recording, or other factors involved, I always try to hold judgement of a band if I can see them live as most bads are always better live than on recording.
Jeff(bigtikidude)
and P.s. I know alot of people think that I think all bands are great and nothing sucks, Thats just not true. There are plenty of crappy bands out there, live and on recording, but I try to not be negative in public posts
unless they have personally slagged me first.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

zak
...I think as a society we've become so damn afraid of saying something negative, we come across as being accepting of any old crap that comes our way...

This seems sort of like the "Democritization of Opinion"...in other words, if it ain't a 'popular' sentiment, then it's not a 'valuable' opinion.

Our society has certainly moved towards the prevalent attitude that "popular"=valuable=the good or right thing, while "unpopular"=not valuable=the bad or wrong thing. Very self-serving subjective relativistic valuations are commonplace.

I'm not so sure that quality is something that can be determined by vote or poll. Especially, quality in the realm of ideas and opinions.

zak

diceophonic
every surf band rocks in my book IMO weather they are 1st wave to present everyone is so good at thier craft and style of surf/garage/instro what ever you want to call it, every single band's contribution to the genre counts in my book with a big bravo

I guess I don't see things the same way at all.
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but the fact that it's "surf" doesn't necessarily make it "good" in my opinion. I can't imagine being that uncritical about music and accepting it on the sole basis that it belongs to a specific genre.

If you think "every surf band rocks" I should send you a few compilations that might make you rethink that statement.

I think as a society we've become so damn afraid of saying something negative, we come across as being accepting of any old crap that comes our way. Whoever said "if you don't have anything good to say keep your mouth shut" needs a good swift kick in the ass. That mentality is detrimental to music.

Zak respectfully as I mentioned above "It's my last 2cents" I'm done on the subject. and I'm stickin' to my guns as your stickin' to your's.....

-Kyle

Beyond The Surf YouTube channel
Beyond The Surf Instagram
The Verbtones @ Instagram
The Verbtones @ Facebook
The Verbtones @ bandcamp

I admire every surfband to a degree, doesn't mean I like what they play, it's because they are doing it for the fun of it and the love of it...

It would be nice to see more CD reviews, but I am with BTD live music is where it is at!

I don't see a lot of support from fellow surf bands. Especially here in Fresno, no, we are not lucky to have your band from (insert big city name here) here in town.... it's hard to get a crowd here. Except for Slacktone and a couple of Japanese imports... we are doing YOU a BIG favor setting up the show. A LOT of bands here on surfguitar 101 get an F in the mutual support dept.

THe NEpTuNeS

surfneptune
I don't see a lot of support from fellow surf bands. Especially here in Fresno, no, we are not lucky to have your band from (insert big city name here) here in town.... it's hard to get a crowd here. Except for Slacktone and a couple of Japanese imports... we are doing YOU a BIG favor setting up the show. A LOT of bands here on surfguitar 101 get an F in the mutual support dept.

I really really loved playing in Fresno. I really with it hadn't been the last day of tour. We were all exhausted and ready to head on home. I thought the crowd was decent and we sold a decent amount of merch. Thank you thank you thank for hooking us up. We all want to play Fresno again. If you are ever up in Seattle we'll get you a gig, although it won't be in Seattle it will be farther north where you can get a crowd of a couple hundred.

A lot of people don't have the opportunity to see shows due to lack of surf in some cities. As for buying surf CDs some bands don't market the CD well enough. That includes my band. We put up one or two threads here pimping the CD and that is about all. We just don't have too much time to really market the album besides at our shows. I haven't heard many of the new bands because I like music to come to me, as opposed to seeking it out, and most surf doesn't make it my way.

Young and old it is really hard to devote extra time to things. Some days I don't even make it home until midnight due to school, work, and band practice. I can't imagine adding a wife and kids on top of that.

zak

DannySnyder
Zak, I'm in complete agreement with those statements.

Oh..off-topic...I sent this to Mel a while back...I think Meshugga Beach Party (as one of the bands that DOES worry about costumes) needs to buy one of these for transportation to and from gigs:

image

I like it. We can tour Jewish delis around the country.

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF