Surfing Shark Ridden Waters

I wasn’t too worried about my possible last night on Earth because of a pesky rapture in the works. I had my own rapture to attend: Gruff Rhys on his Hotel Shampoo trek. If this was going to be my last night, what a gig.

Did he deliver? It’s Gruff. No question…

But what I didn’t expect were fellow countrymen Y Nwil who opened up. I’m not overly versed in Welsh surf rock, but I am now. And a better American for it. Hitting their stride immediately with Chwech, Y Nwil tore it up through a killer set of their new self-titled. Locked tight and fat-free, Y Nwil delivered far more than surf rock, despite familiar twang and surfboards on the digipak. It’s an easy tag, and in many ways appropriate, but they tackled more than just straight up retreads of familiars slathered with Farfisa frosting. Not nearly as heavy or dark as other surf rockers like The Mermen, they take the same tact in redefining exactly what that term is. Sprinkled with psych and garage rock/pop overtones, Y Nwil transcend their own genre and open it wide open: Deg sounds like a warped melding of Booker T. and mini-Twinkranes freak-out by the close or there’s the boardwalk stroll of Wyth.

Every track is distilled down to just what’s needed to make it work. Not to make light of Y Nwil in any way, but it’s a gem of a record. And not only in the Welsh surf rock canon. In the same way that other genre records worth their salt water can rise above their self-imposed limitations {Reverend Horton Heat’s Revorgandrum project comes to mind}, Y Nwil satisfies more than one jones.

And these guys can tackle the joneses, too. They not only primed the pump for Gruff Rhys, they backed him up. And if you’re familiar with Gruff’s work, in whatever form, you know he never digs himself into a pigeonhole. Y Nwil were as every bit as impeccable as Rhys, bobbing, weaving and never setting themselves adrift.

The mighty Mermen once said that the drowning man knows his God. And I can say for a fact, than my God wouldn’t have ended the night hearing this going on. That would have been far too Old Testament…so maybe I know him better than I thought. If this was drowning {or surfing} in shark ridden Welsh waters, it was far too rapturous to stop.

Chwech :: Y Nwil :: Y Nwil {Aderyn Papur, 2010}

See Monkey, Do Monkey…Hear Monkey

Welsh label See Monkey Do Monkey reach across to introduce new Colorama, Houdini Dax, The Method, The Moles, The Keys…a roster to watch…and a rock solid reason for me to get my ass back over to Cardiff…

Colorama :: Box

Running the gamut from psych pop to lilting straight-ahead pop, Welsh outfit Colorama have their mission down pat. Full of hooks, melodies and references to British psych and psych underground as much as modern pop leanings, Box is impeccably built and for all it’s revivalism, thinks outside that box. A lush outing that relies on it’s hooks and melodies rather than ornamentation, Colorama dip their toes in some of the same waters as Beta Band, Super Furry Animals, Tunng, Sgt. Pepper-ish Beatles, The Kinks…a strong focus on pop, smart filler-free pop. Box is a warm and loving nod to 60s tinged psych-pop with sights set on a colored world that reaches far beyond their native Wales.

Candy Street :: Colorama :: Box {See Monkey Do Monkey, 2010}

Houdini Dax :: You Belong to Dax Darling

Vibrant pop-in-overdrive outfit out of Cardiff deliver some retro/revivalist tinged upbeat 60s pop, with a thoroughly modern take. A tad sneering and snotty without being superior or elitist, Houdini Dax inject more than enough jittery fuzzy energy into the proceedings to suck you in, and keep you in. It’s a hyper, Supergrass-style attitude and frenetic, frenzied execution. The influences and references fly fast and furious, and at times slyly, but with enough of their own identity to lift it out of the copycat bin. They’re keenly aware of tradition, and unafraid to give it a work out.

You’re a Ghoul :: Houdini Dax :: You Belong to Dax Darling {See Monkey Do Monkey, 2011}