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I felt compelled to post a plug: I've been working a lot lately, and
for the last day or two I've been listening to the Mermen CD "Amazing
California Health And Happiness Show" from 2000 (their most recent
CD). I got it when it came out, but haven't listened to it in a
while. Well, it popped into my head a couple of days ago, for no
particular reason. Since then I've been listening to it almost
continuously. This is a truly amazing piece of instrumental music, a
real art of sound. Any remaining connection to surf music is very
tenuous on this album (basically consisting of some double-picking on
one or two songs), but if you want to hear great imagination and
musicianship and emotion working completely as one, check this out.
As quite a few of you know, my heart is definitely in the trad surf,
but I'm still deeply moved by this CD. It has an astonishing amount
of beauty on it. In case you're not familiar with the Mermen,
beware: they often feature very long songs, occasionally with long
sections of jamming, full of Hendrixy distortion and feedback; other
times their tonalities are well beyond what we usually think of surf,
dipping into jazz/fusion or even avant-garde. On this album, though,
the emphasis is on melodies, and you can clearly hear two recent
influences on the guitarist/band leader Jim Thomas: jazz master Wes
Montgomery and the country guitarist Clarence White. His infatuation
with those players is probably responsible for his cleaner tones and
more melodic playing than in the past. Nevertheless, every song
definitely sounds like Jim playing.
The final song of the album is really something: it's called Burn and
it goes on for almost 14 minutes (17 if you count the separate
intro)!! About five minutes of that is Jim playing with heavy
effects to emulate what to my ear sounds like being pulled into the
depths of the ocean while remaining conscious (maybe even developing
an alternate conscience - turning into a merman?). This section owes
a heavy debt to Hendrix' "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" from
his album Electric Ladyland, but it still remains uniquely Jim
Thomas. Jim has an amazing talent, I'm completely in awe of him.
The album also features a bit of steel guitar, some sitar and other
indian instruments, as well as Jim playing acoustic guitar on some
songs. There are only 3 or 4 songs that I would describe as rocking,
the rest is quite calm or at least mid-tempo. For anybody with more
adventurous tastes, I highly recommend this album.
Ivan
Ivan, thanks for the review. I really enjoy The Mermen, and hope to
get this CD to listen to soon. I find their music to be an extension
of surf...the past melded with the musical inspirations of the
generations of musicians that followed the first wave period. I'd like
to think someday that I might play with the creativity and technical
skills of Jim Thomas!
Gavin
--- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...> wrote:
> I felt compelled to post a plug: I've been working a lot lately, and
> for the last day or two I've been listening to the Mermen CD "Amazing
> California Health And Happiness Show" ...
Ivan,
Thanks for your thoughts on this release. I am always interested to
hear other peoples opinions. I have always been astonished at the
"recognizability" of the metaphor he creates with Burn. I think
everyone I've talked to seems to clearly get the impression that they
are descending into the depths--in a Bathysphere? and encountering the
wholly other denizens of this mysterious realm. How DOES he do that?
Even though this CD is not my favorite collection of Mermen tunes, it
has a lot to chew on. Even though it isn't very surfy, there are a
number of moments that reflect the impressions of the Pacific coast.
Probably not many will agree with me, but I think I like best the CD
of theirs known as Sunken Treasures. Good set list, killer
performances. Although, I'm splitting hairs, cause I really like
everything by them I have every heard, and often simply shake my head
in disbelief.
I wonder if he's written any NEW tunes lately, though. I know he's
been doing a lot of covers, and that's ok, but it has never been the
thing that surprises you about them.
--- In , "ipongrac" <ipongrac@g...> wrote:
> I felt compelled to post a plug: I've been working a lot lately, and
> for the last day or two I've been listening to the Mermen CD "Amazing
> California Health And Happiness Show" from 2000 (their most recent
> CD). I got it when it came out, but haven't listened to it in a
> while. Well, it popped into my head a couple of days ago, for no
> particular reason. Since then I've been listening to it almost
> continuously. This is a truly amazing piece of instrumental music, a
> real art of sound. Any remaining connection to surf music is very
> tenuous on this album (basically consisting of some double-picking on
> one or two songs), but if you want to hear great imagination and
> musicianship and emotion working completely as one, check this out.
> As quite a few of you know, my heart is definitely in the trad surf,
> but I'm still deeply moved by this CD. It has an astonishing amount
> of beauty on it. In case you're not familiar with the Mermen,
> beware: they often feature very long songs, occasionally with long
> sections of jamming, full of Hendrixy distortion and feedback; other
> times their tonalities are well beyond what we usually think of surf,
> dipping into jazz/fusion or even avant-garde. On this album, though,
> the emphasis is on melodies, and you can clearly hear two recent
> influences on the guitarist/band leader Jim Thomas: jazz master Wes
> Montgomery and the country guitarist Clarence White. His infatuation
> with those players is probably responsible for his cleaner tones and
> more melodic playing than in the past. Nevertheless, every song
> definitely sounds like Jim playing.
>
> The final song of the album is really something: it's called Burn and
> it goes on for almost 14 minutes (17 if you count the separate
> intro)!! About five minutes of that is Jim playing with heavy
> effects to emulate what to my ear sounds like being pulled into the
> depths of the ocean while remaining conscious (maybe even developing
> an alternate conscience - turning into a merman?). This section owes
> a heavy debt to Hendrix' "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" from
> his album Electric Ladyland, but it still remains uniquely Jim
> Thomas. Jim has an amazing talent, I'm completely in awe of him.
> The album also features a bit of steel guitar, some sitar and other
> indian instruments, as well as Jim playing acoustic guitar on some
> songs. There are only 3 or 4 songs that I would describe as rocking,
> the rest is quite calm or at least mid-tempo. For anybody with more
> adventurous tastes, I highly recommend this album.
>
> Ivan
