| Beach Skulls — Las Dunas (June 1, 2018) |
Beach Skulls — Las Dunas (June 1, 2018)
■♠■ Přímořská indie~kytarovka se špínou. Promenáda s perlivě~vlnitými kytarami a úchvatnou melodií v samém srdci písně. Beach Skulls jsou protilátkou k vyvažování stresů a nudy každodenního života. Skutečnost, že vždy existovaly na okrajích obou hudebních scén, jak v Liverpoolu, tak v Manchesteru, jim pravděpodobně pomohla vyhnout se zmizení do beztvarého pozadí hluku těch ostatních a dnes bezejmenných kapel. Beach Skulls vyprávějí jasné myšlenkové obrazy ponuré oblohy nad Liverpoolským přístavem a vezmou nás všechny na ty písčité pláže a prašné, poloprázdné salonky v Texasu všech odstínů různých psychedelií a barev. Kapela také usiluje o diverzifikaci svých lyrických témat: přechází od všech milostných písní svého prvního alba, směřuje o trochu více k filozofickým zákoutím mysli a to nejenom k všudypřítomným tématům sociálních médií, ale také o trochu více k hlubším myšlenkovým výzvám, třeba..., zda život nám náhodou nemizí mezi prsty do nenávratna, bez povšimnutí, všem. Zvýšit hlasitost! Hudba je droga! Tady je vše!
■♠■ “You can tell when you’re listening if someone’s enjoying playing the song or not. I’d hate for us to come across as bored when people listen to us” — Ry Vieira, Beach Skulls
■♠■ Turn up the volume! Music is the dope! Here’s the stuff! Trio mixes dark surf with grungy garage, with side trips back to classic ‘50s pop and noisy ‘90s alt~rock. ■♠■ Manchester trio Beach Skulls are back with their second album Las Dunas, the follow~up to the acclaimed debut album Slow Grind from 2016 which brought the band the attention of the likes of The Line of Best Fit, Clash, GoldFlakePaint and Under the Radar. Summery garage pop mixed with psych and dream pop influences, Las Dunas finds Beach Skulls refining and expanding their sonic palette, coupled with their strongest set of tracks yet.
Location: Manchester ~ Liverpool, UK
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Garage Rock Revival, Surf Revival, Noise Pop
Album release: June 1, 2018
Record Label: PNKSLM Recordings
Duration: 41:06
Tracks:
01. Sun 4:25
02. Come Undone 3:46
03. Sacred Citrus 4:52
04. Soma Holiday 3:30
05. That’s Not Me 2:48
06. Love and Sex 3:24
07. Ain’t Easy 5:16
08. Interlude 3:01
09. Walk into the Temple 3:08
10. You Are 4:53
11. No Worries 2:03
℗ 2018 PNKSLM Recordings
Credits/Personnel:
≡> All tracks written and recorded by Beach Skulls with Matthew Freeman at Fresh Goods Inc., Birkenhead, UK
♠ Ry Vieira — vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar (all tracks)
♠ Jordan Finney — drums, percussion, backing vocals (all tracks)
♠ Dan West — bass guitar, backing vocals (all tracks)
♠ Lara Boundy — backing vocals (tracks 2, 6 and 10)
♠ Lucy James — backing vocals (track 6)
♠ Cover photo by Alec Wallace
♠ Sleeve Design by Jordan O’Brien
♠ Mastered by Luke Reill
Review
by ljubinkozivkovic, June 4th, 2018 / Score: ****
Review Summary: Liverpool psych surf revivalists Beach Skulls come up with a slow burning scorcher.
≡> It takes a great sense of imagination and getting yourself truly immersed in your inspirations to achieve something Beach Skulls have done on their sophomore album Las Dunas. Sure, the trio do come from Liverpool, itself located on the coast somewhere in the northern parts of England, but that is certainly quite a bit further away from either the surfing coasts of California, Hawaii or Australia for that matter, or the dusty, sandy clime of Texas, because that is where Ry Viera, Jordan Finney and Dan West, get their musical inspiration from.
≡> Las Dunas, or the dunes, the albums name should be a bit of a giveaway. Moving a few steps further for the mostly true surf Dick Dale style of their initial album Slow Grind, they move a bit further into the other forms of chiming guitars and echoing vocals, giving their surfing tones more of a psychedelic, fuzz~drenched touches. These skulls bring their tie~dyed shirts and carefully rolled acid~spiced sugar cubes to the beach, taking us all to the “Nuggets”/ Texas garage, The Count Five, 13th Floor Elevators for sure, or making more current compadres to Allah~La’s.
≡> Whether it is the spiky, driving fuzz tones and changes of “Come Undone” or the more ‘slow grind’ of the “Sacred Citrus” or “Soma Holiday”, Beach Skulls clear their mind images of the gloomy skies over the Liverpool harbour and take us all to those sandy beaches and dusty, half~empty Texas saloons all acid shaded in different psych colours.
≡> The band also make an effort to diversify their lyrical themes, moving from ‘all love songs’ of their first album, going a bit more philosophical, not only about the now omnipresent social media themes but also a bit more thought~provoking ideas of whether life is just passing us all by.
≡> Really original No, not really, but then, when it is played this well, with the infusion of a bit more imagination you get some quite listenable results like the Beach Skulls came up with on Las Dunas. ≡> https://www.sputnikmusic.com/
AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra; Score: ****
≡> U.K. garage surf trio Beach Skulls recorded their first album, 2016’s Slow Grind, in four days at a real studio, and the experience left them wanting a situation where they had more control over their sound and a greater chance to experiment. To that end, for their second record, 2018’s Las Dunas, the lads turned a unit at an industrial park into a makeshift recording studio and spent time hanging out, fooling around, and crafting a record that has much more variation, expression, and sonic value than their debut. Slow Grind showed that they had a basic grip on writing good retro~pop songs that hewed closely to the moody side of surf and the menacing side of garage rock, with a little bit of sunny swagger mixed in. Las Dunas has all of that, only this time there’s an organic feel to the music that helps the songs really dig in deep and make an impression. Though Beach Skulls can occasionally get trashy and loud (“Sacred Citrus”) or brash and raucous (“Come Undone”), they mostly stick to the sweet spot of dark and melancholy, where twangy guitar lines and rumbling bass meet melancholy vocals and lonely lyrics. Sometimes they lean in a more garagey direction, like on the mopey folk~rock weeper “That’s Not Me” or the rambling “Sun”; sometimes they sound like they just put in a long day at the beach, as on the tiki torch~lit instrumental “Soma Holiday.” They aren’t stuck in one era exclusively; they step further into the dusty archives of rock for some doo wop (“Love and Sex 1”) and jump ahead to the ‘90s for some grungy guitar stomp (“You Are”). No matter the sound, Ry Vieira proves a master at coaxing memorable lines out of his guitar, and the rhythm section is always right there behind him. The production is top~notch too, ranging from scruffy lo~fi noise to gentle mid~fi finesse at different times. It makes for a varied and always interesting listen, bolstered by hooky, sticky tunes, great guitar work, and a confidence that comes rolling out of the speakers like a surfer riding a 20~foot wave.
Bandcamp: https://beachskulls.bandcamp.com/album/las-dunas-lp
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/beachskulls
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beachskulls.yo
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| Beach Skulls — Las Dunas (June 1, 2018) |
■♠■ “You can tell when you’re listening if someone’s enjoying playing the song or not. I’d hate for us to come across as bored when people listen to us” — Ry Vieira, Beach Skulls
■♠■ Turn up the volume! Music is the dope! Here’s the stuff! Trio mixes dark surf with grungy garage, with side trips back to classic ‘50s pop and noisy ‘90s alt~rock. ■♠■ Manchester trio Beach Skulls are back with their second album Las Dunas, the follow~up to the acclaimed debut album Slow Grind from 2016 which brought the band the attention of the likes of The Line of Best Fit, Clash, GoldFlakePaint and Under the Radar. Summery garage pop mixed with psych and dream pop influences, Las Dunas finds Beach Skulls refining and expanding their sonic palette, coupled with their strongest set of tracks yet.
Location: Manchester ~ Liverpool, UK
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Garage Rock Revival, Surf Revival, Noise Pop
Album release: June 1, 2018
Record Label: PNKSLM Recordings
Duration: 41:06
Tracks:
01. Sun 4:25
02. Come Undone 3:46
03. Sacred Citrus 4:52
04. Soma Holiday 3:30
05. That’s Not Me 2:48
06. Love and Sex 3:24
07. Ain’t Easy 5:16
08. Interlude 3:01
09. Walk into the Temple 3:08
10. You Are 4:53
11. No Worries 2:03
℗ 2018 PNKSLM Recordings
Credits/Personnel:
≡> All tracks written and recorded by Beach Skulls with Matthew Freeman at Fresh Goods Inc., Birkenhead, UK
♠ Ry Vieira — vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar (all tracks)
♠ Jordan Finney — drums, percussion, backing vocals (all tracks)
♠ Dan West — bass guitar, backing vocals (all tracks)
♠ Lara Boundy — backing vocals (tracks 2, 6 and 10)
♠ Lucy James — backing vocals (track 6)
♠ Cover photo by Alec Wallace
♠ Sleeve Design by Jordan O’Brien
♠ Mastered by Luke Reill
Review
by ljubinkozivkovic, June 4th, 2018 / Score: ****
Review Summary: Liverpool psych surf revivalists Beach Skulls come up with a slow burning scorcher.
≡> It takes a great sense of imagination and getting yourself truly immersed in your inspirations to achieve something Beach Skulls have done on their sophomore album Las Dunas. Sure, the trio do come from Liverpool, itself located on the coast somewhere in the northern parts of England, but that is certainly quite a bit further away from either the surfing coasts of California, Hawaii or Australia for that matter, or the dusty, sandy clime of Texas, because that is where Ry Viera, Jordan Finney and Dan West, get their musical inspiration from.
≡> Las Dunas, or the dunes, the albums name should be a bit of a giveaway. Moving a few steps further for the mostly true surf Dick Dale style of their initial album Slow Grind, they move a bit further into the other forms of chiming guitars and echoing vocals, giving their surfing tones more of a psychedelic, fuzz~drenched touches. These skulls bring their tie~dyed shirts and carefully rolled acid~spiced sugar cubes to the beach, taking us all to the “Nuggets”/ Texas garage, The Count Five, 13th Floor Elevators for sure, or making more current compadres to Allah~La’s.
≡> Whether it is the spiky, driving fuzz tones and changes of “Come Undone” or the more ‘slow grind’ of the “Sacred Citrus” or “Soma Holiday”, Beach Skulls clear their mind images of the gloomy skies over the Liverpool harbour and take us all to those sandy beaches and dusty, half~empty Texas saloons all acid shaded in different psych colours.
≡> The band also make an effort to diversify their lyrical themes, moving from ‘all love songs’ of their first album, going a bit more philosophical, not only about the now omnipresent social media themes but also a bit more thought~provoking ideas of whether life is just passing us all by.
≡> Really original No, not really, but then, when it is played this well, with the infusion of a bit more imagination you get some quite listenable results like the Beach Skulls came up with on Las Dunas. ≡> https://www.sputnikmusic.com/
AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra; Score: ****
≡> U.K. garage surf trio Beach Skulls recorded their first album, 2016’s Slow Grind, in four days at a real studio, and the experience left them wanting a situation where they had more control over their sound and a greater chance to experiment. To that end, for their second record, 2018’s Las Dunas, the lads turned a unit at an industrial park into a makeshift recording studio and spent time hanging out, fooling around, and crafting a record that has much more variation, expression, and sonic value than their debut. Slow Grind showed that they had a basic grip on writing good retro~pop songs that hewed closely to the moody side of surf and the menacing side of garage rock, with a little bit of sunny swagger mixed in. Las Dunas has all of that, only this time there’s an organic feel to the music that helps the songs really dig in deep and make an impression. Though Beach Skulls can occasionally get trashy and loud (“Sacred Citrus”) or brash and raucous (“Come Undone”), they mostly stick to the sweet spot of dark and melancholy, where twangy guitar lines and rumbling bass meet melancholy vocals and lonely lyrics. Sometimes they lean in a more garagey direction, like on the mopey folk~rock weeper “That’s Not Me” or the rambling “Sun”; sometimes they sound like they just put in a long day at the beach, as on the tiki torch~lit instrumental “Soma Holiday.” They aren’t stuck in one era exclusively; they step further into the dusty archives of rock for some doo wop (“Love and Sex 1”) and jump ahead to the ‘90s for some grungy guitar stomp (“You Are”). No matter the sound, Ry Vieira proves a master at coaxing memorable lines out of his guitar, and the rhythm section is always right there behind him. The production is top~notch too, ranging from scruffy lo~fi noise to gentle mid~fi finesse at different times. It makes for a varied and always interesting listen, bolstered by hooky, sticky tunes, great guitar work, and a confidence that comes rolling out of the speakers like a surfer riding a 20~foot wave.
Bandcamp: https://beachskulls.bandcamp.com/album/las-dunas-lp
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/beachskulls
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beachskulls.yo
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