There are many surf festivals around the globe, more than I can enumerate, but Surfer Joe Summer Festival is so special. I mean, there's a baseline of special at any surf event: you see these performers that are so exceptional, legendary even, but only within this tiny genre. It feels like a secret. But to converge upon Livorno, a charming Italian town scarcely mentioned by the rest of the world, with roaring waves behind you, and for every person you meet to be sporting a different accent, and to be immersed deeply in this for four days... it's dreamlike.
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From the moment they started playing shows there's been buzz in the surf world about The Scimitars, who blend surf and middle eastern music, often with the visual accompaniment of a belly dancer. There's enough reason to be excited just about the surf side of things, as Ran Mosessco's music with the Astroglides and The Sand Devils are great, and Jonpaul Balak on bass is always a big plus. They've been patient letting this sound and these songs develop, with only a single 7" released last year since they started up in 2018, and finally they're ready to debut a full length.
Sundazed has really been leaning into surf recently, with last year's Chantays - A Dawning Sun, Surfin' the Great Lakes compilation, and The Vaqueros' 80 foot Wave. All three records were either entirely or in large part unreleased material, which certainly had me excited, but there was a fair share of disappointment. The Chantays record wasn't quite as surfy as the cover art might have you believe, and I just found the Kay Bank studio stuff to be generally lackluster. The Vaqueros record was pretty good, but a lot of it was vocal. I applaud Sundazed regardless for putting them out -- release everything! Let no surf go unheard! But I was admittedly a little worried what another unreleased surf record from a basically unknown band would pan out to be.
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STORM SURGE OF REVERB
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