I recently found this review that Ivan Pongracic (The Space Cossacks, The Madeira, Lords of Atlantis) wrote for Frankie and the Pool boys' "Spin the bottle" album. I'm parking it here for posterity.

June 6, 2018

I've been wanting to review Frankie & The Pool Boys' brilliant new CD "Spin the Bottle" (Double Crown Records) for a while now, but have just been too busy. I FINALLY got around to it - and as you can see, I had a LOT to say! For the short version of my review, just read this paragraph: it's Ferenc's best work to date, a true masterpiece, and my favorite surf album in years! At the center are the well-crafted and compelling songs which are also often surprising in the best ways possible, showing it is possible to STILL do something creative and new in this nearly-60-year-old genre. The musicianship by *everybody* involved is extremely high, all the songs expertly performed. Dusty Watson's production is dead-on, clear-but-warm, with a lot of small touches and details which keep the songs interesting and surprising long past becoming familiar with them - there's always something new to hear if you pay attention. It’s deep music but it doesn’t require deep listening to enjoy – though it certainly rewards it! It's an album that has a vibe and attitude and confidence which I think is rare - it knows it's a TON OF FUN and that if you give it a chance, you'll almost certainly fall in love with it!

Ferenc and I have been friends and even occasional collaborators for many years (twenty, I believe!), and that is not an accident. I have an enormous amount of respect for him. He always delivers. Every time he does something new it shatters my expectations and shows him to be a truly talented musician. So, I definitely am biased when it comes to his work, no question about it, but I think I'm biased for the best reason of all: I already know him to be an exceptionally creative person whom I admire a great deal, so my expectations are always high.

At the center of the album is Ferenc’s guitar playing which just keeps getting better with every new release. It has *always* been great, but he still continues to find a way to improve it! It is particularly full of fire and passion this time around, with a guitar tone has never sounded better - sometimes crunchy and aggressive, other times beautifully clean-yet-complex, with a lot of detail and warmth. (It must be the new brownface Bandmaster that he got at the SG101 Convention a couple of years ago from Danny Snyder. What a sound!) One remarkable thing about his playing on this album is that over the years he’s developed an uncanny ability to sound like a steel guitar, using the Strat’s tremolo arm. He’s really become an expert in that technique – which of course was Leo Fender’s original idea when designing the Strat’s vibrato/tremolo system in the first place, to allow the player to emulate steel guitar (which was highly popular in the early ’50s). Ferenc has done astoundingly well with that technique, and it’s not one I hear very often, so truly well done, my friend, very impressive!

I gotta also shower with kudos Jonathan on drums and Abe on bass, the rhythm section of the Deadbeats who have now also become the Pool Boys, and both sound *amazing*, like real pros, belying their young age. Abe is often playing lines that one would expect from a much more mature and experienced musician, and Jonathan sounds positively Dusty-like in many places of the album. They don’t only provide the solidity to the album, but lot of its fire, too, a remarkable feat!

Karen on the organ (and occasional piano) and Jono (formerly of Pollo Del Mar) on rhythm guitar are both highly competent and dependable, and play their parts with precision one would again expect from highly seasoned pros. Karen in particular shines in many places of the album, often trading leads with Ferenc or sometimes even taking over the lead completely! Both Karen and Jono are also very tasty players, as well, and know when to lay back and just support the song rather than vie for attention.

If I start seriously dissecting this album, I could write a short book - but I’m quite sure NOBODY wants that! So, let me just mention a few of my favorites:

“Seafoam Angels” is grand and uplifting, and effectively sets the mood for the entire album (and what a fantastic title, love it!).

“El Valenciano” is a fantastic, Latino/Hispanic-influenced song with exceptional playing by everybody. It features a highly dynamic guitar performance, some of my favorite playing by Ferenc ever! (Though, I gotta say that the drum part played by Jonathan reminds me more than a bit of the drum part played by the Madeira’s Dane Carter on our song Sahar. Coincidence? Hmmm…. )

“Magic River” – I love the choice of the cover (one of the two covers on the album) of this obscure Surf Coasters song. Surprising and unexpected, but absolutely perfect for the band. It comes from the “L’esprit” album from 2002, one of the two ‘organ’ albums by the Surf Coasters, and it gives a chance to Karen to shine playing the upbeat melody over a groovy Bo Diddley beat. Ferenc gets to revisit the main guitar hook from his classic “Ewa on the Beach” song in the bridge of this song, which is a very nice touch. This really is a fantastic song, but one that only the most hardcore Surf Coasters fans would know (which Ferenc certainly is!), making it so much cooler!

“The Wet Season” is my absolute favorite song from the album, it's ‘pièce de résistance’, and in fact, one of my favorite new surf songs in years! It’s an incredibly dynamic song, with Ferenc’s possibly best-ever guitar playing (LOVE all the open-string pull-offs!), featuring a super-fat and yet sharp-and-cutting guitar tone that just exudes confidence and attitude. It actually reminds me a bit of some of the great songs from the classic “Searider” album from 2008 by the Swedish surf band the Barbwires, one of the all-time-great surf albums, as far as I’m concerned, certainly of the modern era. There’s a sense of epic scale and grand proportion with this song which matches or even outdoes the Barbwires. It also features one of the best bridges in a surf song I’ve heard in a long time. It really opens up the song, lifting it to the next level, reaching transcendence! Too few surf musicians exploit this songwriting device, as far as I’m concerned, but I personally think bridges are extremely valuable to keep a song dynamic and interesting. And Ferenc absolutely nails it here, it is just perfect. The song is also filled with many little details that make it so much fun to listen to, even if you’re not paying very close attention, you can still just pick it out ‘out of the corner of your ear’! I love the bits of feedback in the song; the wah-wah which works so incredibly well (I never would have expected that!) and which gives it a bit of that ‘70s-crime-movie feel; and then the final verse with the double-picked call-and-response guitars which eventually join into a cool harmony as the rhythm becomes increasingly syncopated, building towards a climax, with finally the lead guitar going off the fretboard, climbing higher and higher – what a perfect, even inspired touch! So, so great overall! Immortality earned, Ferenc (though you already got there with a few previous songs)!

“Summer cold” is an evocative, gorgeous ballad with ingenious playing by Ferenc. On the first few casual listens I honestly thought Ferenc had a guest player playing steel guitar, until I listened more closely and realized that it’s actually him making highly effective use of that Strat tremolo arm! So, so beautiful!

“Fast Loud Hard” is a hard-rockin’, even punky, tune which seems to have been influenced by the Surf Coasters. The beat, the guitar licks, the guitar tone, the overall energy and vibe, all scream the Surf Coasters to my ear – and the band completely does them justice, which is a pretty amazing thing if you know anything about the Surf Coasters!

“Tan Line Fever” is the most trad-surf song on the album, and is just SO much fun, a total blast! It really was the perfect choice for the flip-side of the “Ewa on the Beach” single recently put out by Hi-Tide Recordings. It features the signature Astronauts beat, their ‘booch’ rhythm guitar, and the lead guitar part played in their the muted single-line style, with wet reverb splashing all over the place! It also has a melancholy feel that surf music often so effectively turns into something upbeat and uplifting. But despite being traditional-sounding, it’s still completely unique, exuding Ferenc’s personality! Even when he’s trying to sound traditional, he still ends up sounding like himself, and that’s actually a GREAT thing!

“San Quixote” sounds to my ears as a bit of a tribute to Insect Surfers. I believe Ferenc has been quite open in the past about Insect Surfers being a big influence on him, especially back in the Pollo Del Mar days (for example see their great song “Insecticide”). I hear some of the same vibe and similarity of approach to lead guitar, the chord progression and the rhythm, to what I’m used to hearing on Insect Surfers records. And it’s a freakin’ KILLER tune – as are the next two, “Raise Hell”, another extremely pretty melancholy-but-happy quasi-ballad, and the sheer fun and energy blast of “Pool Boy Stomp”!! But then, I really think ALL the songs are killer, there’s no weak moment on this amazing album! It ends with the four bonus vocal versions of the songs which are a ton fun, but my heart lies with the instrumentals, so I better bring this review to a close. I’ve run out adjectives, anyway! A truly amazing job, Ferenc and the Pool Boys (and Girl)!!

Throwback 2011- Lazarus Longfellow joined The TomorrowMen

In September 2011, I joined The TomorrowMen. I was extremely excited to join the band, and in a burst of creative excitement, I wrote this official announcement for SurfGuitar101. I'm reposting it because I'm proud of this story, and also my time in this great band. I genuinely enjoyed playing with Danny, Tony and Steve. And, let's face it, Danny is a musical genius, and I went along for a wild ride! We played lots of shows, recorded their second album "Futourism," and toured Europe twice. If you haven't heard The TomorrowMen, please seek out the recordings at Bandcamp.

• Chapter 401, Who is Lazarus Longfellow? •

Lazarus was sad. His friends had left, again. He didn't know if he would see them in two weeks or two hundred years. The scientists, however, would surely be seeing Lazarus again almost immediately. He was always there for them. He'd get their message, show up at the appointed place (and time), and suss out the situation. He'd have a ground plan ready for the T-Men when they showed up, so they could quickly execute their research and move on.

This recurring scenario had become the story of his very long life. How long? He didn't care anymore, the decades and centuries had become a blur of boring politics, wars that solved nothing and lovers who withered while he remained, eternally, the same.

Laz describes his first real meeting with the TomorrowMen crew as accidental. He was hunting wooly mammoth, when four men appeared from behind a bush. They were ridiculously dressed in what he would come to know as pith helmets and canvas clothes that were better suited to a swamp safari in the 19th Century. Clearly they were lost, but he didn't know yet how badly. They asked him if this was Africa, and he mumbled, "I don't know, maybe." 

An odd green idol hanging around the neck of one of the men caught his eye, and he recalled that he had seen someone wearing the same thing years earlier, while watching a volcano explode. At that time, the man's clothes had matched his own.

Lazarus told the four men that he recognized them, but they said that was impossible, as they had never been in these parts before. He reminded them of the volcano and the shock registered on their faces..."How would you know about that? It happened almost one hundred years ago in a village far from here." said the leader, a man who introduced himself as Mycroft Eloi.

The last time Lazarus had told anybody his secret, he had been stoned, then drowned, and then burnt at the stake. When none of those tortures took, he escaped his village to explore the world, which was much bigger than anybody had imagined.

He decided to tell his story to the men, how he had outlived all of his family, and never grew grey hair, or felt a hunger in his belly. The madness didn't seem to scare them, and they whispered quietly amongst themselves for a minute. 

Dr. Kilometers took something sharp out of his pocket, scraped Lazlo's skin, and disappeared in a green flash, only to return seconds later. "It took a few weeks, but I had his DNA analyzed. Very peculiar, he seems to have perfect telomeres, so when his cells are reproduced they are without error. Imagine that his whole body is made out of stem cells. It's like he is constantly cloning himself". 

"He is, dare I say it," Dr. K paused dramatically, "Immortal!"

The man called Grommet X stepped forward, and told Lazarus to have a seat, what he had to say may make him dizzy. What a fantastic tale it was. They were time travelers, able to move about freely across the eons. "Scientists," he said, and another word, "Explorers," neither of which had any meaning to Laz. 

Then an offer: "We need someone like you. Someone who can be here when we arrive, and help us with our cover so we can move about freely and unquestioned."

"To make sure we're not dressed like dandies in the Pleistocene," interjected Quark Parsec.

"We need to make our observations without disturbing the people we study. If anybody found out about us or our ability, it would cause great harm to the time continuum" continued Eloi. 

Then Mycroft showed Laz a green idol (he called it a medallion) and put it around his neck. "When this lights up, it's us sending you a message. We'll tell you where we want to meet you, and what we need. Usually it's just some clothes or maps."

"Or guitar strings..." said the one called Dr. Kilometers. This phrase made no sense at all.

"And you must never tell anyone about us," intoned Skyles Angstrom with a measure of menace.

...So began the long working relationship between Lazarus (later Lazarus Longfellow) and the time traveling TomorrowMen.

For the Tomorrowmen crew, time was an exciting realm of exploration. Not so for Lazarus. Time equated abject boredom. He saw people make the same mistakes over and over. He had learned and used every sure fire pick-up line. He amused himself with current technologies. He had and kicked every possible bad habit. He saw the world. He invested a few dollars in every possible stock and never sold-- he made billions (and, yes, the T-Men slipped him a winning Lotto number now and then as payment for his services). 

Yet Lazarus Longfellow was utterly alone, unwilling to love again, and lay another to rest. His only excitement came when the medallion glowed green and coordinates appeared across the glass. Time, place, project. Laz flew into action, making preparations, travel arrangements, or learning a local language (sometimes the T-Men would give him 10 years notice!) He would show up and wait for them to appear, his old friends, including him once again in their scientific quest. On arrival, they'd be so familiar with him, as though they had just seen him, sometimes asking him about something he was interested in, but then remembering that it hadn't been invented yet. 

Lazarus would try to guess how much time had passed in their world. Of course the scientist aged; he had seen them with full heads of hair and bald heads as well. Laz and the T-Men had grown close over the years. After the tests were finished and the notes compiled, there was drinking and mayhem. Bonding like brothers, and then they were gone again, often leaving him only with a bar tab and a hole in his heart.

It was around the year 1960, by man's calendar, that the original TomorrowMen arrived in Southern California to study beach culture, specifically the great advancement in design of women's swim ware, known as the bikini. (This was the all important time trek where Dr. Kilometers and Gromit X first met Mycroft Eloi, who was working in a guitar shop. See Chapter 368 for details.)Lazarus was there, of course to facilitate their needs, and provide sunblock for the ultra pale scientists. But, the T-Men were more interested in the indigenous music of the local teens, known as "surf music". They were infatuated with it, and began to study it almost exclusively. Their meeting with Mycroft had changed everything.

Laz had never seen them so passionate about any other subject. They learned to play the instruments and songs. They bought the records and clothes, they did the "Surfer's Stomp" at the concerts. They seemed to forget about their mission, and wanted to stay in this time. Lazarus mulled a diabolical plan.

The TomorrowMen eventually had to leave and report their findings to whatever agency paid the bills for The Chronolab. As always, they promised to come back soon, and they craved more surf music. Laz would be ready. Unfortunately, they couldn't return until 2007, and by then, much had changed on Earth. Societal devolution and advancements in technology had taken much of the joy and fun out of music, and surf music was all but forgotten, of interest only to a small, underground group of fans. 

The T-Men were greatly saddened to see this when they arrived, and crest fallen, they vowed to leave as soon as possible. Laz had other ideas, and, quite literally, threw a monkey wrench into their plans, when he threw a monkey wrench into their time machine. It broke the Momentium tank, releasing all the precious fuel they needed to get back to their own time, the year 3000.

Mycroft and the crew were dumfounded when they saw what had happened, and yet, they never suspected their long time friend and crew member en honoraria was the culprit of the crime. He knew they were stranded, stuck, and not going anywhere until they could find Momentium, and element that wouldn't be discovered for a few centuries.

The T-Men were diligent in their research. They could not, however, work all the time, so they started playing their beloved surf music as a way to relax. Laz loved to listen to the group, and loved having his friends stay with him for an extended period. Eventually, two of the scientists, Quark Parsec and Dr. Kilometers had to leave to follow up Momentium research in other parts of the world, and the Tomorrowmen were in need of another guitar player.

Lazarus Longfellow's crafty plan finally came to fruition when Mycroft, Grommet X and Skyles Angstrom asked him to join their membership. He was incredibly happy, though his sickening greed gnawed at his gut. How long could he keep his black secret, while watching his friends toil away uselessly on their research?...

Stay tuned for the exciting next installment in the story of The TomorrowMen.

Free Fall for "Wave Walk'n: A Tribute to The Surf Raiders"

Frankie and the Pool Boys recorded "Free Fall" for Wave Walk'n: A Tribute to the Surf Raiders on Green Cookie Records, and available from Bandcamp. The song was originally written by Richie Podolar of Richie Allen and The Pacific Surfers for his Surfer's Slide album. The Surf Raiders called their version The Ranch for their 1983 Surf Bound LP. There are lots of cool bands on the the tribute CD, including our pals The Insect surfers. In fact, the CD was curated by IS bassist Jonpaul Balak, and he also did the package design.

The video is pretty cheezy, we just arranged five iPhones around the room and used the motion filter. On the other hand, it didn't cost a penny :)

Here's a link to download or buy the album from Bandcamp.

Green Cookie is a very cool label, located in Greece.

Systilus (MX) covers "Teke Teke Teke"

 Cool cover of ”Teke Teke Teke“ by Sys Malakian

Systilus is a band from Mexico City, MX led by Sys Malakian. Here's his Bandcamp profile: 

Power Speed ​​Surf from CDMX. Reverberant Guitars, Warm Bass and Extraordinary Drums. With 5 years of experience he has performed at the two surf festivals in Mexico (Surfeño and Back To The Surf Music), also managing to be heard around the world and get himself as one of the representatives of the current surfing scene in Mexico. New and fresh sounds upcoming. 3 albums, 5 EPS and lots of singles.

I think it is the highest honor for a musician to have their music covered by another artist! Thanks Sys!

Surfer Joe / World Traveler Review from The Continental #31

 

Surfer Joe / World Traveler

The International Surf Music ambassador returns with his fifth solo album, appropriately, and ironically, titled World Traveler. It’s correct, in that no one has put more miles in the van preaching the reverb gospel globally than Lorenzo Valdambrini in the last ten years. And ironic, in that the album was recorded, solo, at his home in Livorno during the strict Italian COVID lockdown. As noted many times before, Valdambrini has all the tools he needs to create his music– he’s a crafty songwriter, a talented drummer and guitarist, and knows how to produce a vintage sound in the studio. He is, as track 10 suggests, The Solitary Surfer. The Surfer Joe color box is consistent on World Traveler, with few production touches and a quartet lineup of two drippy guitars, bass and drums. Much of this album is influenced heavily by The Astronauts, and their tones and beats show up on many tracks- Rebel Princess, On Top of Their Game, and Kaiju, which is a monster track! The lead off, Schlingel, is a party rocker with a minimal melody but a dance floor groove. Sunset is the slowest song with a mesmerizing quarter note thump from the rhythm guitar throughout, and features a dramatic, uplifting, change from minor to major at the bridge. My pick for the hit single is found in the rhythmically challenging Runaway Truck Ramp, featuring a compelling intro groove. The song is as much a mystery as it is an odyssey! Stay Stoked is another ear worm, coming more from the early Paul Johnson tradition, with a rolling snare carrying the reverb kayak over the rapids. Overall, another consistently excellent long player from Surfer Joe.

Availble in the USA from Hi-Tide Recordings

International Distribution from Surfer Joe and Surfer Joe Bandcamp

This review is published in The Continental, Issue #31. Please buy and support the magazine and the music!

 

Jimmy Dale pays tribute to his father Dick Dale in Alameda, 10/23

Ivy Room, Fireside Lounge, & DJ Sid Presley, in conjunction with West End Arts District & A-Town Agency presents...

JIMMY DALE w/ Dusty Watson & Sam Bolle play the music of Dick Dale!

Featuring Frankie & The Pool Boys

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Saturday, October 23, 2021
Doors - 2pm
Live music - 3pm

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Tix $22, available at Eventbrite (TIX ON SALE NOW!)

***All tickets are will call only. ***

(Children 4 and under are free) - Make sure to check out the kid zone!

Merch plus food and drinks will be available for purchase. 

Enjoy Singaporean street food & more, by Satay By The Bay SF food truck

First come first serve seating and based on your table purchase.

Event is rain or shine.

Live performances end at 8pm. 

Enjoy the show!

From your friends at Ivy Room and Fireside Lounge, and DJ Sid Presley!

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A quick word about transportation and parking.

Webster Street is accessible via the tube with nearby access to I-880 and public transportation such as BART and AC Transit. There is street parking on Webster, both metered and non-metered. ADA Parking is available at any metered space free of charge with a CA Disabled Placard. There is a parking garage on Park Street with a direct bus line to Webster via Santa Clara on bus 51A. Please be respectful to our neighbors and avoid blocking driveways or parking in lots posting private parking spaces.

Les Agamemnonz review from The Continental Magazine

Les Agamemnonz

Amateurs

Hi-Tide

In the last few years, Les Agamemnonz have established themselves with a sound that is completely fresh, as though reinventing the Surf genre. But, not in a modern way. While many in Surf pride themselves on taking the music where it might have gone, Les Agz have found a space where it feels as though they could have actually influenced the birth of surf. What if the teenage testosterone that propelled the energy for early surf was provided by hop-headed jazzers, pushing the beat with sophisticated musical knowledge as influences? 

Their first albums defined their unique sound. Along with inventive, melodic songwriting, and open arrangements, their drummer, André Pasquet, became, literally, the driving force as he pushes the beat like Art Blakey. His drumming is just that expressive and syncopated. Check out the stick work on “Xiphias” from “Amateurs,” the new album, or “Air Force,” which clocks in at a ridiculous tempo of 190 beats per minute, and you’ll feel the fine art of maintaining a steady pulse, but somehow always staying ahead of it.

“Theme” starts off the album in a subdued way, an ode to the style Jack Nitzsche, and gradually builds to a production the size of which would awe Spector. Aided by a two man orchestra, the track swells with a cinematic manipulation of the senses. When you start an album like this, expectations for what follows are very high. The string and horns, as well as vintage keyboards, like a clavioline, appear throughout, making for a rich and fantastically recorded production. “Xiphias,” “Artemis'' are vintage Les Agz, with strong melodies and quick tempos. “J’avoue” (I  Confess) is a minimalist, romantic, island mood piece, gently giving us a reprieve before “Air Force” takes off in full flight. “No Shoes No Service” is a deceptively simple party rocker, with a heavily distorted keyboard. “Mt. Capitola'' veers into Morricone territory, but does not rehash the spaghetti western tropes.

“Amateurs'' is, and someone has to say it, the opposite of amateurish. The album title is the first clue to the absurdist humor infused throughout the album. Many of the songs feature arrangements that are so joyfully insane, that they must have been inspired by madmen. As side B continues, the additions to the basic four-piece are nothing short of ear candy– there’s so much going on in “Attention”, I wouldn’t know where to begin when describing, but please listen in headphones for the full effect. “Les Conseils de la Fee Des Lilas,” a theme by French composer Michel LeGrand from the movie Peau d’One (Donkey Skin), is wacky source material, and becomes chamber-surf, with the guitars and flute in gentle counterpoint. The only other cover song comes from Duke Ellington’s Far East Suite album. “Mt. Harissa'' is recast with the energy and tones of a Terry and the Blue Jeans eleki track, infused with that absurdist humor of the random piano.

I still remember the headline in Rolling Stone for the review of “Sandinista”: “The Clash Drop the Big One.” One of the eras most respected bands, who had already proved themselves, delivered something so great, so over the top, that one could have hardly ever expected such a brilliant work of art. Amateurs, the new album from France’s Les Agamemnonz is that mind blowing, and brims with the joy of life.

©2021 Ferenc Dobronyi 

This review originally published in The Continental Magazine #30. 

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