THE NEW ALBUM IS OUT AND AVAILABLE! AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SITE, ORSome Reviews:
From Michael Lindner of The Aqua Velvets
the cds arrived today.
had to check out mysterious mambo first off. very cool. hope you have sent a copy to miles. love the live immediacy of "sand in your face".
the new cd is awesome. you certainly have created a signature sound. and the finale "it’s what she does" is magnificant. cheers to you guys out in the reno/sparks nevada neighborhood.
rockin’,
michaelFrom Scott Thomas- Oregon
Been listening to the new CD. There are some really nice things happening. First off, it’s a real tribute to Jeff, as his drumming is just great throughout. The ride is real prominent in some cases, but I’m not really qualified to talk about mixes and such. I like it just fine, though.Some favorites:"Six Gun Surfer" Excellent composition and has a real spaghetti western feel to it. Really seems to suit your syle very well."Dancing with Venus" has one of the tightest compositions on the album"The Mighty Bah-Rooom" which is sort of a Pipeline meets Link Wray thing.Billy strikes me as an atmospheric player. He likes to explore slow arpeggiated passages and weave impressionistic textures that often have a tendency to meander, but the sound is so gorgoeus that I don’t mind too much. It would be nice to hear more compositionally, though. A slow major to minor chord change is beautiful, but to me can’t sustain a song over several bars and seems all to often to substitute for more creativity. That being said, I actually welcome the sort of spare, slow arrangement that so many new band’s material seem to be lacking.I think that Billy is a developing artist in this genre. He wrote every song on the album. They seem to run the gamut from filler to magnum opus here. He’s no virtuoso, but his playing often shines with a sort of conviction that some technical players never touch.From Big Tiki Dude- California
I’m Listening to it now.
got it from Billy yesterday at the Big Surf O rama show.
I hope there was more people than me that payed for it Billy.Its really pretty good, compared to some of the Demos you gave me.
I agree that the songs are quite varied, but some are very imaginative.
I also really like Six Gun Surfer.Jeff(bigtikidude
From Eddie Bertrand (Eddie&The Showmen)
Billy....The CD sounds really good...I like the guitar sound and cool melodys. Wish I could have heard the drums more, but, that’s just my taste. You did good pal.Sincerely,
EddieWell I just grabbed a copy of this album from Billy a week ago (at a killer Pyronauts show, by the way ), and I’ve finally had the time to give it a couple discerning listens. I’ve gotta say this album is pretty damn cool, and it’s got plenty of substance to talk about.Everyone’s right when they mention the atmospheric qualities of this cd. It is a little rough around the edges at times, as mentioned earlier, but it doesn’t fall short in its airy impact. The atmospherics is probably the main theme that ties the whole album together. At times the tones and vibe remind me of the Mermen’s "Krill Slippin" album, with an open and expansive feel to them--very dramatic at times. The album is also equally defined by the song structures, which are really pretty elaborate and stray pretty far from your average surf tune. Lots of the songs change tempo and vibe almost on dime, sometimes multiple times in one song.Examples would be "Suicide Surfer," which covers ground from grumbly double picking to pulsing heavy chords with a slow and mysterious break and more in between. Actually, I could make similar cases for the vast majority of songs on the album, which tend to wander through and around multiple dramatic stylings. "Mental Surf" starts as a mid-tempo, almost melancholy piece but then picks up into pure, unadulterated upbeat surf music in a traditional style--really effective and really enjoyable. "Six Gun Surfer" follows a similar pattern, with fast killer surf breaks flanked by slow-moving mystery. (Both these songs are among my favorites on the album, by the way).
In addition to individual songs, the entire album as a whole covers a lot of ground as well, with fast upbeat rockers a la "Dancin’ with Venus" countered by "The Bluest Reef," the albums chilled-out slow piece and accompanied by everything in between.One area where I think the playing style really differs--and particularly excels--in relation to most other surf bands is in the use of chords in the melody. There are plenty of songs (and fragments of songs) here that rely heavily on full chords rather than just individual notes for the melody, and I have to hand it to Billy for having gotten that style down pat. Chord-heavy leads tend to get me bored fast, but the Surf Lords employ them just enough and in the right places. They’re really kept interesting and effective throughout, from the opening lines of the first track "Mermaiden" all the way through the closer "It’s What She Does." After a long building call to open that song, the first half of the song is almost entirely just chord changes, but they remain an effective and really quite pretty lead until round two, when they become support for an entirely new lead melody/solo--a really cool trick that brings the album to a big triumphant finale. On a related note, I can’t tell what the effect is on that lead--it sounds like it could even be some electric violin or something, but it’s cool. Not a sound I’ve heard much in surf, but it works.And lastly, I just have to talk about how much I like the song "Surf Ace." Dammit, this is one infectious tune. Quick tempo, driving rhythm, and great upbeat melody with calls of "surf ace!" thrown in to make it just that much more fun. I’ve listened to this one particular song a whole bunch of times in the past week. Definitely my favorite on the album, and I like plenty about this album. Good good stuff.So anyone who wants to add something new and different to their surf library should hurry up and buy a copy of this cd already. It’s pretty new territory worth scoping out. Go ahead and get your feet just a little bit more wet.
