Tag Archives: surf rock

Stream: Best Friends – “If You Think Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out”/”Shred Til You’re Dead”

I think it was back in the summer of 2009 that I was absolutely addicted to the Beach Fossils first EP. It was a collection of songs that just made total sense for the time. Their music managed to capture what I loved so much about the first Real Estate album that was somewhat lost on subsequent Real Estate releases. Something about that sound.

I happened upon Best Friends and immediately recognized the same sound that I have been looking for every summer, and they seem to capture it on every song.  The track “If You Think Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out” is an instantly catchy tune that packs a lot of punch and a super catchy melody within a compact 2 minute more or less punk surf rock format.

When I started writing this post I was having a really hard time deciding which tune I was going to put first, and after flipping it back and forth a few times I decided on “Shred Til You’re Dead” first, so I can only hope and pray that people are reading this far and play the next tune, “If You Think Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out.” The guitar tone on “Shred Til You’re Dead” is what really gets me here. I could be wrong, but whenever I hear tone like this I picture a Telecaster playing through a Twin Reverb. Who knows, but it’s a great tone however it’s made.

 

There really is no winning, because this next track is really great too. The band has been releasing these as a steady stream of singles, but if they were to put all these together it would make one hell of an EP. This next one comes from their single “Happy Anniversary” b/w “Nosebleeds.” The songs here are a little bit extended, which is a good thing, because these guys have hooks for days.

So listen to all of these. Listen to them over and over again. Head to their soundcloud page and just let every track play right in a row. After that throw a few bucks their way (or £ as the case may be, being that the band hails from Sheffield in the UK) for some downloads, as all their vinyl is currently sold out.  And, if you want to get in the holiday mood, you can check out their cover of “Wonderful Christmastime” that’s also on their soundcloud page.

New Release: Man or Astro-man? – “Defcon 5…4…3…2…1”

Man or Astro-man? "Defcon 5...4...3...2...1"
Man or Astro-man? “Defcon 5…4…3…2…1”

I have loved Man or Astro-man? since the first time that I heard them. The album was “Is it Man or Astro-man?” and unfortunately I hadn’t heard it until after the band had put themselves into cryogenic freeze. It was several years before they thawed themselves out and made another appearance, though they had trained some clones to serve as them around the country, but that’s a whole other story.

Since they have been re-animated, my favorite sci-fi obsessed surf-rock band from another planet has been touring pretty regularly and on May 21st of this year they released a new album entitled “Defcon 5…4…3…2…1” through Chunklet. There is one track up on Communicating Vessels. That song is “Disintegrate” and it can be heard below.

I managed to see Man or Astro-man? twice in Chicago last summer when they played the West Fest street festival and later that same night when played a nearly completely different set at The Empty Bottle.  Though the songs were different the shows still involved fire, a theremin and a Tesla Coil. So get out there and see them if you can, they are a lot of fun live.

The album can be purchased in a variety of forms and combo-packs. Follow these links for your preference:

Digitally through iTunes//CD//Amazon Download//Vinyl (clear or black)//Record + T-shirt//

They are currently on tour throughout Europe. Catch up with them on Facebook for all the latest tour updates. If you want to hear more Man or Astro-man? check the video below of their live set for KEXP in Seattle: