los straitjackets

The Top 100 Surf Records of the 2010s: 20-1

The final chunk of the is here, with plenty of longstanding surf heavyweights but also some great new upstarts. Thank you to everybody that voted on this list and I hope you're satisfied with the results!

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Bandcamp is waiving their cut of sales today. Here are some great new surf releases.

the_birdcage - Wave Machine
Today Bandcamp is waiving their fee when you purchase a record, which means more money goes to the artist. That means today's a good day to buy a lot of music on bandcamp - and a good day for me to finally write some some things about some great releases that have come out in the past month or so. If you missed out today, Bandcamp will also be donating their share to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on Friday, June 19th.

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Los Straitjackets release What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets

Los Straitjackets - What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets

Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets have been friendcrushin' for a while, with LSJ having joined Lowe as a backing band on a few occasions. That leads us to this album of instrumental Nick Lowe covers. Not too familiar with Nick Lowe? Me neither, but these translate very well and don't simply feel like guitars "singing" vocal parts. Los Straitjackets have long ago expanded their sound past the 60's surf vocabulary, so the latin percussion on "Checkout Time" (for instance) gives you a song that doesn't sound like Nick Lowe or The Surfaris, and "I Read A Lot" takes major cues from exotica. It's a pretty subdued album, often moreso than the originals, but LSJ's musicianship should make this feel fresh no matter what angle you approach from.

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Davie Allan and 3 Balls of Fire are playing the Ponderosa Stomp afterparty - listen to an interview on Monday's show

Davie Allan and 3 Balls of Fire are playing the Ponderosa Stomp afterparty - listen to an interview on Monday's show

Dr. Ike's bi-annual Rock & Roll record collectors' concert extravaganza is back this weekend, a BIG event for us music nerds down here. Though for the most part the lineup is pretty light on surf (Los Straitjackets are backing up Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon), the Sunday night afterparty features none other than Davie Allan and the Arrows, King of the Fuzz Guitar! Hopefully regular listeners are pretty familiar with him, but if you're not he's responsible for the soundtracks to a lot of biker movies.

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Surf releases for Record Store Day's Black Friday

Record Store Day Black Friday

Disclaimer: I hate Record Store Day and Black Friday, and if it weren't for the fact that they make a lot of money from it, your record store would hate it too. However, it often does bring a few surf records into the world, and I've found in that they're not exactly the hottest items, so you can probably drop by your store at your leisure rather than hop in line at 7 AM.

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