We've got a new 7" out from the Thunderchiefs: trad surf maestros from Austin, Texas. I haven't heard this one yet, but their split with The Surfites "Surf Nut" was well worth it. You can order it from Space Case Records. As far as I can tell, this one is wax only, nuthin' for your hard drives.

Fun fact: if you spoonerize Thunderchiefs you get "ChunderThiefs". My New Zealand dad has often referred to vomiting as "taking a chunder". Don't know why you would want to steal that.

Les Tigres du Futur have a sound unto themselves, yet familiar enough for the impact to be immediate. As much as this is a guitar-centric site, they mostly serve as the crunchy, grinding infantry force. Leading the charge is the whirlwind keyboard, which deftly straddles both psych/prog mystery and adventure and a hip-shaking mod beat. If that doesn't sound very surf, it's because it's not; I don't hear a shred of Dick Dale, Ventures or even Shadows in this -- MAYBE Davie Allan or Link Wray but only because I'm looking for it. It's instrumental rock & roll though, no arguing it.

Two weeks after releasing their Speed Power Turbo Racer EP, Amphibian Man have YET ANOTHER release. This is about as easy of a write-up as it gets: heavy surf covers of songs from the Contra Nintendo game. It's as awesome as it sounds, and it's a free download.

This is the debut EP from Seattle's Delstroyers. The play kick-em-in-the-teeth surf with a little bit of a horror edge to it. The winner of the 4-pack is "Take me to the Hell-Hop" with a some great guitar interplay, and moments of the guitars really cutting loose then cutting back. It's all good, fun, stuff that I could imagine being pretty fun live.

All four tracks are available for free download on their Reverbnation page. Looking foward to hearing what's next from them.

Though the Phantom Operators never keep you waiting long for more material, this is the second full-length from the Tennessee-based group. When listening to them, there's one word that comes to mind: desolate. The guitars go on and on, but with a bit of a melancholy and not so much of that California brightness. It fits the desert theme that runs thoughout much of the Phantom Operators' material.

Here are 11 originals from Italy's Surfoniani. They've got upright bass, some very drippy guitar and drums, which gel into a bright and sunny modern trad sound. They've got a fair amount of beach party shakers like "Bikini", "Mai Tai Girl", and "Tiki Twist" though also a few cooler ones like "Red Waves". Give it a listen!

Amphibian Man released an LP less than three months ago, so I certainly wasn't expecting more from them, but I'm glad we got this one. "Speed Power Turbo Racer" also happens to be the name of all four tracks on this, and they all get the point across - this is 100% about speed and power to an almost overwhelming extent. Once you get settled a little bit, there are actually some good melodies driving these songs, and at 4 tracks it's over before it's too much -- unless you find it's too much immediately! Really fun EP from these guys and it's completely free to download.

The Kanaloas are the latest group to be brought into the Double Crown gang. Though they've been around for a good while, they stuck to 7"s up until this point and might have passed you by (admittedly, this was the case for me). Now they have an 11-song LP under their belt with a simple but pretty choice of album art that broadcasts one thing loud and clear: "Trad". The Kanaloas perform in suits, and serve up 60's styled originals and a few obscure covers. I haven't gotten a copy of this yet, but they have a proven track record and the Double Crown seal of quality. Hard to argue!

The Coffin Daggers' self-titled LP was a mainstay on Storm Surge of Reverb back in the WESU days. It struck a really great balance between loud, thundering power and traditional surf sensibilities. As I've suggested about The Madeira's first record, it would be very difficult for them to ever dethrone that effort due to my impenetrable personal bias. With that bias, however, comes the fact that I'll be counting down the days whenver the next Coffin Daggers release comes by.

I've picked up a few Hang-ten Hangmen EPs a while ago and enjoyed the melodies that came through their goofball lo-fi horror sound. Maybe I missed the switch, but this EP seems to have shifted in a more modern trad direction. Not that I didn't like the old version, but the clips I've heard sound like the change has suited them well! It's punchy, bright, bouncy, and well recorded. You can download it from CDbaby here.