Paul from The Escatones contacted me recently about a new single these guys just put out on Artificial Head Records. Their second on the label, this three piece from Galveston, TX is back at their dirty surf sound with special guest Paul Leary from the Butthole Surfers. Surfing buttholes with the springy tiki reverb from The Escatones...it's all making sense.
A-Side "Out of Sight" comes out slow with the warmer guitar tones some slow cymbal crashes lead into a slightly faster tempo of their laid back surf sound from the first single. Connor's vocals in a surfy Dead Milkmen style, long sustained strums getting way more into a jangle indie style here. Leaning into the three chord melody their slacker sound mellows out even more into a catatonic surf. A dread influenced creepy tiki sound, played by Zombies... arms falling off, barely holding it together for this ballad sound. They hit that chorus about also being "...Out of Mind and the rest of the guys come in with a beachy harmony. Whoops and yells into the dripping reverb and they've got a repetitive kind of psych-y velvets influence as well... nodding off, until a huge phaser solo goes bouncing around, which must be Paul from the Surfers. The drums start bashing as the thing takes a nosedive into chaos...picking up the pieces they try to get back on the horse, but the beach bonfire is already gotten out of hand. The best thing to do at this point is just leave before things get ugly (er). Pretty epic heights in guitar screwery, one take insanity. As you might expect adding one especially eccentric degenerate to the mix.
B-Side "East Beach Stomp" has a crystal indie reverb sound, this one goes for the heavy melody, drawing on those single note melodies around the link wray scale, even going for the instrumnetal. The guitars almost swapping melodies back and forth, passing the dueling echo sound, a weird homage combination of pop and the updated surf...this one almost works in a experimental indie way...like a reissue on Captured Tracks or something, it might even (gasp) get new wavey for a second? Shows just how much this west coast chorus reverb sound has evolved into DIIV, The Minks and Blouse, this is a more optimistic version of that sullen sound, but a pretty close cousin actually, nothing wrong with an instrumental...and a b-side at that, makes sense.
Get this one from the band direct on their bandcamp page.
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