I have to be careful about stuff like this, as I'm an easy target for overproduced maximalist surf music. Trying to peel back the layers of this, naming and following the instruments, would require some notes and probably a little pausing and rewinding, and sometimes when there's so much of that to do it's hard to answer the simple question: are these memorable songs? I've had this record for a few weeks now and I still don't know, I'm still lost in the dense instrumentation, but I suppose I can answer the most important question: am I enjoying myself? Yes.
The Chi-Tones are largely Chi McClean (pronounced as in Chai tea), playing all instruments except drums, so very much a studio thing. Loud surfy (or occaisionally Westerney) guitar just about always takes lead, keeping this from veering into Pet Soundsy exotica-ey territor-ey. And while he has the toolset to stay fully in, say, Morricone sonic language, it seems just about everything is on the table at any time. Toy piano in a tex-mex bandito sorta number? Sure! Country-twangin' on a sitar? Who's gonna stop him? You almost don't notice it half the time, there's a lot going on and it all works together seamlessly, while being recorded proficiently enough to not turn into audio soup. It doesn't register as weird, so much as big, all these parts supporting each other instead of fighting.
It's a rush, and it's recorded with such a bright sound, so the final track "Big Sur" is a welcome wind-down, letting the acoustic instruments in particular show off their timbre with a bit more space to breathe.
This is an incredibly strong debut, and I've been pleased to see it resonating with a few others out there. If I'm falling into my usual trap of big production surf music, well maybe some traps are good!
Available on bandcamp and on 12" recycled vinyl, which Chi was nice enough to send me but I'm not sure where to buy.
