The Surfing Magazines

構成数 : 1
合計収録時間 : 00:44:22
Personnel: David Tattersall (vocals, guitar); Dominic Brider (vocals, harmonica, drums); Charles Watson (vocals, organ); Franic Rozycki (vocals); John Gray (saxophone). Recording information: Ranscombe Studios, Rochester. This project is one-half of Slow Club and two-thirds of Wave Pictures -- and the Surfing Magazines want to highlight that fact -- it is, after all, their defining feature. When bandmembers team up, there's a set of expectations that comes with the territory, including the pitfalls of a spin-off mentality and a fear that the resulting hybrid won't live up to the prowess of its parent bands. Surfing Magazines stay true to that rule. It looks like they were having fun, but sounds slightly less so -- overall, it's clear that no one here was expecting to blow the industry apart; instead, they sound content enjoying the process of making music and recording the experience. If their mission was to fight back against the over-produced indie folk landfill then in some ways they have succeeded. Album-opener "Sawdust in My Eyes" has a lackadaisical, lazy-days vibe to it. Three tracks in and "Peeping Dom" makes good on the promise of surf-rock, with a concise rolling quality that justifies the inclusion of a saxophone. Later, the sax on "A Fran Escaped" leads to the best 16 bars on the record -- starting at 3:46 and ending at 4:00 minutes -- and a brief foray into mariachi. The album closes with "You Could Never Come to Me Too Soon," epitomizing the open-ended, stream of consciousness approach the band have taken on their debut. ~ Liam Martin