Funny Days

OMFG are my legs shot right now. The commute has been a bit too much this week. My IFs for the 1 hour (each way) ride are .92, .89, .89, .87. Phew. Tomorrow it'll be the Genghis Khan ride, kinda like a muffin ride but with dirt, then Saturday we rest and maybe do a 45 minute v. light spin. Sunday, we race.

This week's theme is Surf Music and its cousins. I've got quite a bit of music for you this week, all on the theme. Let's start out with Los Straightjackets. This video is nothing, really, but it's cool as hell for some reason. I think it's because the music and this band knock the song right out of the fuckin' park. Pardon the language, but I get excited about Los Straightjackets.



Wouldn't hurt to hear some Southern Culture on the Skids here. What? Alt.country.rockabilly has surf music roots? Sure. Check it out.



Sorry it's not a proper video, but the live vids had crummy sound quality and I figured you'd rather listen than watch Mary Huff strut around and play a tribute to Link Wray. Right? Heh. Sure.



Link Wray, of course, was the father of the power chord, and his most famous song, by far, was Rumble.



Pretty cool. That's about halfway between Powerstation and the Beach Boys, right? Should I make it clearer? Right here is where surf rock meets metal. Link Wray delivers the baby.



They named the baby Lemmy. You hear that riff after each verse? It's played metal style, but that's a surf rock lick.



You don't believe me? Check this out with Dick Dale.



What the hell was that - speed surf metal? It's like Frankie and Annette are surfing off the coast of post-apocalyptic Australia in the wreckage of oil rigs and being chased by surf nazis or something. Dale was one of the original surf rock pioneers though. Here's a pleasantly dated song that really doesn't sound dated at all. It's a timeless sound.



Now let's take traditional surf guitar, mix in some pulled pork and hush puppies, and what do you get? Southern Culture on the Skids again. That's straight up surf music posing as ironic alt.country.



Sweeter than sweet tea, huh?

Of course I've been beating around the bush. If you want to talk seminal surf rock, you gotta mention The Ventures, and Wipeout.



Again, that sound is old, but it isn't dated. The Ventures are, as far as I know, still the top selling instrumental band in the world. Here's one reason why:



And one more. What the hell.



Awesome.

You all have a nice weekend. I'll see many of you at Ed Sander. Woooot!