Menu
It is interesting to look back over the past 25 years of modern surf instro and
see how it differs from the early '60's. I also have a large collection of the
new and do like many of the trad bands and especially the pumped up trad of Jon
and the Nightriders and Dick Dale.
What is best about the less trad Slacktone and Insects is that a lot of what
they do is not immediately accessible. That kind of involved writing is
compelling. I hear something new everytime I hear it. I don't yet get the Mermen
although I love Martin's artistic drumming. They sound very stream of
consciousness, much like new age, as opposed to the arranged melody and answer
of Slacktone or the guitar conversations of the Insects.
-Marty
----- Original Message -----
From: supertwangreverb
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 1:16 PM
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Best of 2004 Pre Poll
Christ Ivan! You write too much to hold my attention haha. I'm
going to need the cliff notes of your posts from now on.
Hey, I didn't mean to offend anyone. I just don't like some of
the "newer" surf stuff I've heard. I've heard the Merman and
disliked it, same with Slacktone, I've also heard some of Les
Fradkin's stuff and didn't like it either. Sorry, just not my
taste. That being said, Dave Wronski is an amazing guitarist and so
is Les Fradkin. However, I feel some of the newer bands like the
Treblemakers, the Ghastly Ones, Satans Pilgrims, and the Bomboras
did put a more modern spin on surf, but those guys did it
differently than the previous bands I mentioned, and they were still
creative.
Ivan, I respectfully disagree with what you say about newer bands
sounding like the old ones. I really think minus the organ on the
Finks album it sounds similar to the original bands, same with some
of the Treblemakers.
Also comparing bands who made those big changes in the 60s is
different than now, there's so much shitty things that have been
done in music the past 40 years that everyone gets a little polluted.
Which, I guess could go along with what Ivan saying, no new bands
are going to sound exactly like an old surf band.
With my band we try to sound as traditional is possible, go ahead
say we are putting on blinders and blocking out too much. That's a
compliment as far as I'm concerned. We've been asked to play our 3
biggest shows this year because we sound more traditional than any
of the other surf bands around here. There's still alot left to do
with the traditional sound IMO.
Bill
--- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...>
wrote:
>
> --- In , "supertwangreverb"
> <supertwangreverb@y...> wrote:
> >
> > I didn't buy many "new" surf cds this year. Most of the time I
buy
> > a new CD it turns out to be some modern progressive sounding
surf
> > crap.
>
> Bill, I must say that this statement by you left me more than a
bit
> bothered. I know this whole trad vs. prog topic has been beaten
to
> death, but I just had to pipe in with a couple of thoughts:
>
> 1) I'm not sure what you mean by progressive. Are we talking the
> Mermen here? Though I do on occasion enjoy them, my tastes
> definitely fall on the trad side. But I got the feeling (probably
> erroneously) that you're saying even many trad bands are too
> progressive. I'm not going to argue your taste here, it's yours
and
> subjective and that's all there is to it. But I think it's not
> really fair to dismiss a bunch of cool musicians who love surf
music
> for being too progressive cause they don't sound exactly like
they're
> playing in Orange County in 1963.
>
> I have some 600-700 surf music albums, both old and new, and it's
> exactly ten years now that I've been a part of this scene (started
> getting really into it in the Summer and Fall of '04 when I joined
> the Cowabunga discussion list), so I know what I'm talking about.
> And here is what I found from my experience: '62-'65 surf music
has a
> feel that has not been captured by ANYBODY since then! No matter
how
> good, how dedicated, how anal, it just hasn't been done. There's
a
> particular sound and feel to authentic, original surf music that
has
> remained in that era and that cannot be recreated. Many bands
that
> try to only do that end up being quite boring, unimaginative,
> unexciting and repetative. My biggest recommendation to young
bands
> it not to put any unnecessary blinkers and limitations on
themselves
> by deciding they're going to sound exactly like Eddie & the
Showmen,
> the Astronauts and the Fender IV, and nothing else.
>
> Now, does that mean that everybody should pull out their digital
> multiprocessors, Jacksons, Peaveys, etc.? Absolutely not. In my
> opinion the bands that have been the most successful on the
creative
> level in the last ten years are those that loved and understood
the
> genre so deeply that they were able to internalize it to such an
> extent they could leave their own imprint and personality on it
while
> very much remaining faithful to it. My favorites that I believe
did
> this are the Fathoms, the Penetrators, the Bomboras, the Woodies,
the
> Boss Martians, the Treble Spankers, the Volcanos, Satan's
Pilgrims,
> Jon & the Nightriders, and more recently the Nebulas, Husky & the
> Sandman, Langhorns, the Bambi Molesters and several others.
> (Slacktone and the Surf Coasters sometimes go too far out for my
> taste, but when they nail it, brother, watch out!) I really think
> that none of these bands sound like they came from '63, but they
all
> indisputably sound like surf music - GREAT surf music!
>
> I LOVE trad surf. But I want to see it continue to develop and
> grow. That doesn't mean the Mermen, it doesn't necessarily mean
> Slacktone or the Surf Coasters. But it does mean doing something
> CREATIVE, new, different. Imagine if the Belairs said, geez, this
> Mr. Moto song just doesn't sound enough like the Ventures or the
> Fireballs, we better add make it fit that mold a bit more. Or if
DD
> never did Miserlou, cause it was just too, well, WEIRD!! All that
> aggression and speed, and those strange tonalities, and that crazy
> guitar tone! Nope, gotta go. Or if Eddie & the Showmen scratched
> Scratch cause nobody had played lead guitar in that flashy of a
> manner in surf music. Or if Randy Holden & the Fender IV dropped
Mar
> Gaya cause it was too relentless and disturbing. Every one of
those
> moments was a major step forward for surf music, and is now
accepted
> as a normal part of the genre. But when it was introduced, it was
> strange and new. Remember that Paul Johnson had to pull his car
off
> the road the first time he heard Pipeline cause it was so
different
> and exciting!
>
> I've recently been rifling through old posts on SG101, and I
happened
> across the one where I forwarded Randy Holden's email to me to the
> site. I had forgotten what he said in there, so it was nice to be
> reminded. It was after he received a CD or two from me where I
put
> the best of '90s surf music on there. His response was that
judging
> by those recording his opinion was that the new surf music was
> considerably better than '62-'65. Though I have a huge soft spot
for
> the originals, and they always transport me to a that perfect
place
> in time that was Southern California in 1963, by any objective
> measure I totally agree with him. There was much more good surf
> music that has come out in the last ten years than did in the
first
> three years of surf music. Maybe not classic surf songs, but
overall
> much greater quality as a body of work (somebody find me more than
> three original surf bands that have recorded as much quality
material
> as the Fathoms...)
>
> So, why dismiss so many new bands that are probably trying to do
the
> same thing that you are doing with the Reluctant Aquanauts - try
to
> leave their own imprint in this historical and somewhat exclusive
> line of surf musicians playing the music they dig the most? Not
to
> say that you've gotta like everything (I sure don't). Not all
> musicians and bands are created equal - some are much better than
> others. But I think you should at least give them a chance.
Believe
> me, I know it's expensive to try to keep up with all the surf CDs
> that come out, but buying only one new surf CD from '04? Doesn't
> seem right for a self-described fan of the genre. In addition,
the
> best way that we can increase the chances of our bands to get
greater
> exposure, more sales and more gigs is by supporting the CURRENT
scene
> as much as possible. The Space Cossacks would never have gotten
> 1/10th the exposure if it wasn't for bands like the Penetrators
and
> Satan's Pilgrims, and yes, even the Mermen, helping us out. And I
> think that applies to many other great bands from the nineties.
> Everybody benefitted from the great excitement and energy that
> existed in the whole genre at the time.
>
> Alright, I'm getting off my soapbox now...
>
> > The one I did buy that was from 2004 was The Nebulas - It's
> > Go Time! Which I surprisingly liked. I've been told their
first
> > album was slightly better, but I enjoyed this one.
>
> They're both awesome albums. The Nebulas are truly one of the
> brightest stars of the current scene. I'm working on going to see
> the Surf Coasters, Slacktone and the Nebulas in Hermosa Beach on
> March 5th (or whatever it is), cause that's about as good as it
gets
> today, I think.
>
> However, I hope that in the next week or so I'll pipe in with a
large
> diatribe on Euro Surf. I think that most US fans of surf music
are
> really missing the boat cause IMHO some of the very best surf
music
> today is coming from Europe. More on that soon....
>
> Ivan
.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
a.. To visit your group on the web, go to:
b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
