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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Surf Music General Discussion »

Permalink The Mermen

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A cool story about the Mermen.

https://lookout.co/santacruz/wallace-baine/the-here-now/story/2021-05-10/santa-cruz-music-the-mermen-surf-rock-jim-thomas

Rev

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

OK so that was cool but this kinda vexed me

“He wrote the greatest surf song ever written,” he said of Dylan. (“Surf” is the inadequate but inescapable musical genre to which the Mermen have been assigned.) Then, Thomas begins to recite from memory the stunning last verses of Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man”: ... to dance beneath the diamond sky/With one hand waving free/Silhouetted by the sea ...

Wat? Dylan wrote the best surf song?

Storm Surge of Reverb: Surf & Instro Radio

Yeah, that Dylan thing threw me as well. I guess it is true in Jim’s eyes.

Canadian Surf

http://www.urbansurfkings.com/

Thanks Mike

Jeff(bigtikidude)

I remember that, in another interview, he called "1983... A Merman I Should Turn to be" by Jimi Hendrix the greatest surf song. I think it is just his way of expressing, that his understanding of (surf) music is not identical with the common conceptions of the genre.

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

I mean really Mermen, especially in their current incarnation are more of a psych group than a surf group.

preemptively ducks

Storm Surge of Reverb: Surf & Instro Radio

Jim Thomas has his own view of the world and I love it as much as his music...
The endless questioning of the Mermen being a surf group shows how original they are Smile

Here's an old interview I did in the early 200s

https://www.guitar9.com/column/interview-jim-thomas

Tikidog wrote:

Jim Thomas has his own view of the world and I love it as much as his music...
The endless questioning of the Mermen being a surf group shows how original they are Smile

Here's an old interview I did in the early 200s

https://www.guitar9.com/column/interview-jim-thomas

Martin: wow that’s long, thanks, I’ll have to come back to it.
Have you seen the Endless Summer movie now?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Yes, saw the movie now.
Here's another piece on THE MERMEN from Gitarre & Bass ( in German)

https://www.gitarrebass.de/stories/unbekannte-helden-jim-thomas/

On a tangent, here is a recording of the Jim Thomas' side project, the Shi-Tones, doing the complete Endless Summer soundtrack (and some other songs):
https://archive.org/details/shi-tones2007-02-02.flac16

He also talks a little more about various connections between the soundtrack and the Mermen's music before they start playing it. Personally, I think it's interesting that, even though Jim Thomas point out the Endless Summer as his primary influence, the Mermen don't sound anything like the Sandals. And I don't just mean guitar tone, but structure, harmony etc. In the Shi-Tones' performance, you recognise Jim as the guitar player, of course, because he puts his own spin on the tunes, but that's about it.

ElMonstroPerFavor wrote:

I mean really Mermen, especially in their current incarnation are more of a psych group than a surf group.

The funny thing is, they don't really sound like a psychedelic band either, at least not like one I have heard of...
EDIT: In my first surf band (spektrophon) we did a sort of Mermen rip off song as the closing number of our set, including a moody jam turning into a cascade of feedback (and than back to the main melody). And that was the song, which resonated the most with the audience (99% of whom surely had never heard of the Mermen). Unfortunately we were not clever enough to exploit this direction of our music further...

Los Apollos - cinematic surf music trio (Berlin)
"Postcards from the Scrapyard" Vol. 1, 2 & 3 NOW available on various platforms!
"Chaos at the Lobster Lounge" available as LP and download on Surf Cookie Records!

Last edited: May 14, 2021 13:07:32

revmike wrote:

A cool story about the Mermen.

https://lookout.co/santacruz/wallace-baine/the-here-now/story/2021-05-10/santa-cruz-music-the-mermen-surf-rock-jim-thomas

Rev

Thanks for the link and for starting the thread. The Mermen have become pretty much my favorite band for a little while now. There's no one really like them.

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