Since my mind is on the Gremmy Awards lately, this is easily categorized into the "Rad" instro category, with distorted metal guitar tone 100% of the time, growling basslines, and a generally mean temperment -- in a fun way of course. I think the best marriage of these surf and metal sounds come through in "Unagi Tsunami", which is possibly the silliest of the bunch which chants of "Uga Chaka" underneath the scuzz.
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These guys may trace their roots to a surf sound, might even call themselves surf sometimes, but their sound is undeniably modern and often unto themselves. Surf isn't a code to live by, and Instro is a genre of possibilities meant to be explroed and tinkered with.
There were no shortage of good records for this category, and it was extremely difficult for me to choose between them. I'm looking forward to publishing this so I can stop agonizing and be done with it!
This is my own terminology here, but the rad category is for the instro bands that thrive on adrenaline. Moreso than the other categories, a lot of these show punk and metal influences. It also rhymes with trad, and I like it more than "aggro".
Honorable Mentions
I'm in Chicago at the moment so you've got WTUL favorite DJ Pompeii stepping in. She's done this before and I think she did a great job. I think she's attempting to do a Christmas themed surf show, we'll see how it goes! I'll be back in next week and I've been prepping a few more Gremmy awards.
As for last week:
12/14/15
This debut 7" from the German Quartet Braindead Dogs makes me think: in instrumental music you can attach your music to any kind of imagery. So why not more food rock? This food rock 7" sounds a lot like trad surf with a bright and bouncy sound that I could imagine being pretty fun in a live setting.
I believe this is finding its way to an actual 7" record later, but for now you can grab it on bandcamp.
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STORM SURGE OF REVERB
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