February Birthdays 
Nor'easter by Mister Neutron CD Review by Noel
One of the consequences of not listening to anything remotely like surf music since I was a kid in Pittsburgh in the mid-1960's is that I missed most of it. We didn't get much where I lived, and then I stopped looking for it altogether. It was the search for surf music in 2011 that led me to Surf Guitar 101. Even then, as I started listening, I self-limited myself entirely to early and contemporary surf music. For some reason, I didn't look for anything in-between. I'm not even sure why. Maybe it was because almost all the discussions I read on SG101 were either about music from and before the first wave, or what people were currently recording. The only exception was Surf Beat '80 by Jon & The Nightriders, and even that is brilliant 1'st Wave music.
Which brings me to Nor'easter by Mister Neutron, released on Deep Eddy Records in 2008, but recorded between 2003 and 2008. I just bought it, and it seems I've missed a lot of great music. This review will be brief and I hope it encourages others to add their own comments.
The first thought I had as The Big Island started to play was, "Stargaze Music." Beautiful, melodic and thoughtful, it made me wish I was listening to it outside on a quiet, crystal clear night, when I could just look up at the Milky Way and drift off into the majesty of it all. This is a wonderful song. I mean that literally; it made me think of the wonder of it all.
Every song surprised me, if only because nothing was what I expected. Mambo Italiano. I grew up knowing this song. Pitsburgh. Italian family. Really fun version they play. Not straight cover. Lot of fun. Where's that tall older woman who tried to teach me to mambo when I was twelve? I'm ready now! 
Many of the songs are what I've learned to expect in traditional surf music. Adriatica, Nor'easter, Tahiti Throwdown, Stratosfear and others could be on any current traditional surf record. Others span varieties of surf we know and love, but with a twist of humor; Horror (Vlad The Impala), Spy (Sea Girt Agent Girl) or straight up; Spaghetti (Hang 'Em High). Terrific. Just not the always the way it was done originally, or exactly how it's done now. Transitions.
You want Blues? You got that too. Hydroplaning/The Big Island. Like I said, I didn't expect how this record sounded.
I know I missed a lot of surf music recorded between 1980 and 2011. If Nor'eater is any indication, I missed a lot of great surf music. If, like me, you've come late to the party, you're doing yourself a disservice skipping the long middle period between the founding of surf music and what people are recording today. If you haven't heard this record, you owe yourself a listen. I think it belongs in any surf music collection.
—This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.
