Phil Dirt - Reverb Central - PO Box 1609, Felton, CA 95018-1609 USA The Surf Trio - Almost Summer
 | This is the first album from Portland, Oregon's Surf Trio. It sports some very nice instro surf, in a much more trad vein than their Neat Stuff period releases, plus a slab of tight vocals, including one of the great retro-modern garage punk tracks, "Where You Gonna Go?" |
Picks: Cape Wonder, Surfin' The Millrace, Pete's Mood, Cape Perpetua [Unknown], Snug Harbor
Track by Track Review
Surf (Instrumental)
Wham bam, thank you mam. This is one fine shredder. Edgie guitar double picking high energy low-E leads that issue up short board action. The almost-behind-the-bridge high notes slithering is very cool., like the plucking in the Citations's "Moon Race," but double picked instead of single notes, and glissando based. An infectious tune.
Surf (Instrumental)
Ska coolness permeates the rhythm section here, while the lead noodles up and down the scale in lieu of a melody. It is super simple, and I should hate it, but it is so infectious, that it wins me over completely. Really fun track.
Surf (Instrumental)
A fine whammied tune with a picturesque melody and ringing tones. Really nice mood piece, frothy visions of glassy tubes and wahines in sarongs. Mighty nice.
Surf (Instrumental)
This is actually the VyDells' "Unknown." The arrangement is much less intense, but the effect is quite strong. The dribbling glissandoes please the ear, and the balance between the lead and damped rhythm is superb. Fine track. Jeff Martin says that "Cape Perpetua" was left off the album in error, and "Unknown" was also accidentally substituted.
Surf (Instrumental)
Shimmering vibrato, ringing whammy, and a low-E melody line create a very pretty song of a protected inlet in a tropical locale. Very fine listening.