{"id":19,"date":"2012-05-16T18:07:43","date_gmt":"2012-05-16T18:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/?p=19"},"modified":"2022-06-22T04:45:51","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T04:45:51","slug":"the-mermen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totallyguitars.com\/blog\/tg-classic-blogs\/band-trivia\/the-mermen\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mermen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Mermen by Steve Rose\" width=\"1140\" height=\"855\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oCL7qQamxA0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\nBy: Stephen Rose<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_02.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-57\" style=\"margin-left: 8px;margin-right: 8px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_02-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Led by guitarist Jim Thomas, and supported by Allen Whitman on bass and Martyn Jones on drums, the Mermen are a San Francisco surf-rock trio formed in 1989 and considered to be part of the \u201c3rd Wave\u201d of instrumental surf music, which is loosely associated with the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction for including two Dick Dale songs in its soundtrack.\u00a0 Other notable 3rd Wave surf bands include Jon &amp; the Nightriders, Los Straitjackets, Pollo Del Mar, The Bambi Molesters (from Croatia ), The Surf Coasters ( Japan ), The Insect Surfers, The Surf Kings, Slacktone, The Halibuts and many others.<br \/>\nThe Mermen derived their name from the Jimi Hendrix song \u201c1983&#8230; (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)\u201d, from his 1968 album Electric Ladyland.\u00a0 Historically, the Mermen have always resembled what Jimi Hendrix would sound like if he played surf-rock at its most acid-drenched extreme.\u00a0 However, at other times they can be very melodic and reflective producing ballads of grace and beauty in the spirit of Hendrix classics such as Little Wing, Sand Castles in the Sky, and The Wind Cries Mary.\u00a0 A perfect example is one of my favorite Mermen tracks called \u201cTo Be Naked and Fresh is Always Hard\u201d from their 1996 limited release live album \u201cOnly You\u201d.<br \/>\nI have been a big fan of the Mermen ever since Rhino included the live version of their song \u201cHoneybomb\u201d on the 1996 Cowabunga! surf boxed set, and also since hearing their studio track \u201cOcean Beach\u201d on the excellent 1994 surf compilation \u201cBeyond The Beach\u201d.<br \/>\nHoneybomb is included towards the end of the Rhino box and is likely as hard-rocking a surf instrumental as you will ever hear.\u00a0 As the song progresses it continuously veers further and further out of control until exploding with raw energy in the climax.\u00a0 The first time I heard it I thought it was too over-the-top and perhaps included solely as an example of how far astray the new breed of surf bands had deviated from their more melodic and distortion-free predecessors, but after repeated listenings the emotional impact of the bombastic ending spoke to me, saying \u201cwake up dude, there\u2019s something special going on here.\u201d I have been a big fan of the band ever since, collecting all of their albums, and was even fortunate enough in 1993 to see them open for Dick Dale at Slim\u2019s in San Francisco.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_03.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-58\" style=\"margin-left: 4px;margin-right: 4px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_03.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"299\" \/><\/a>The Mermen released their first CD, \u201cKrill Slippin,\u201d in 1989.\u00a0 It was a DIY effort sold by the band at their shows (initially only available on cassette).\u00a0 All of the compositions are by Jim Thomas, and drummer Martyn Jones contributed the cover artwork.\u00a0 While not as polished as their later efforts the foundation is firmly in place and the album contains many strong tracks including \u201cOcean Beach\u201d (to be redone on their second release); \u201cSplashin\u2019 with the Mermaid;\u201d the relaxed vibe of \u201cSand;\u201d and \u201cThe Whales,\u201d where Jim Thomas uses a bottleneck slide to replicate the mournful cry of the leviathan.\u00a0 On several tracks he uses a chorus effect to fatten the reverb, including the upbeat final track \u201cThe Goodbye.\u201d<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_04.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-59\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_04.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"299\" height=\"299\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\u201cFood For Other Fish,\u201d the Mermen\u2019s sophomore release came out in 1994.\u00a0 The production values are more polished, and the playing is more assured than on their debut.\u00a0 Once again all compositions are by Jim Thomas.\u00a0 Overall, the album is more representative of their current sound \u2013 more effects driven with high octane feedback and distortion added to several tracks giving an extra layer to the guitar\u2019s tone and characterizing their contribution to the surf genre.<br \/>\nThe improved production values on \u201cFood For Other Fish\u201d are immediately apparent during the arpeggio introduction to the opening track, the mystical \u201cBe My Noir.\u201d\u00a0 The fourth track, \u201cMy Black Bag,\u201d is a dark exercise in feedback and distortion that gives way to the explosiveness of the fifth track, the studio version of \u201cHoneybomb.\u201d\u00a0 Other standouts include the redone \u201cOcean Beach,\u201d (included in the \u201cBeyond The Beach\u201d compilation); the relaxed vibe of \u201cRaglan;\u201d and hypnotic imagery of \u201cMadagasgar.\u201d The climax of the album is the psychedelic \u201cPull Of The Moon,\u201d accented by drummer Martyn Jones\u2019 mocking laughter.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_05.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-60 alignright\" style=\"margin-left: 4px;margin-right: 4px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>\u201cLive at the Haunted House\u201d was released in 1995 and contains live tracks taken from radio broadcasts between 1991 and 1994.\u00a0 Included are \u201c\u201c Lonely Road (krill slippin)\u201d and \u201cSplashing With The Mermaid\u201d from the band\u2019s debut; \u201cHoneybomb\u201d (chosen by Rhino for their surf box); and a new original called \u201cGulch of Spleens.\u201d The band also performs amped up covers of \u201cQuiet Surf\u201d by Richard Podolor; \u201cPenetration\u201d by the Pyramids; and \u201cUnknown\u201d by the Vydells.\u00a0 The final track is a down tempo, groovy rendition of the Ventures\u2019 Hawaii Five-O theme called \u201cSlo Mo HVO.\u201d<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_06.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-61 alignleft\" style=\"border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<td>\u201cA Glorious Lethal Euphoria,\u201d also released in 1995, finds Jim Thomas modifying his tone to capture the grunge, and distorted overdrive normally associated with Neil Young or Pearl Jam. \u00a0 The Crazy Horse vibe is especially prominent on track 5 \u201cObsession For Men\u201d and track 7 \u201cUnder the Kou Tree.\u201c\u00a0 Two of the more traditional sounding surf songs are the tranquil second track \u201cWith No Definite Purpose,\u201d and the slightly more aggressive fourth track \u201cScalp Salad.\u201d\u00a0 The band does some serious shredding on track 8 \u201cLizards,\u201d then lays down a jam that would have fit in with the Jimi Hendrix set at Woodstock on track 9 \u201cQuo me cunque rapit tempestas.\u201d\u00a0 Track 12 \u201cBetween I and Thou\u201d expands the album\u2019s loveliest melody into a nine minute epic of darkness and redemption.\u00a0 The album concludes with a reflective interpretation of \u201cBrahms 3rd Movement 3rd Symphony.\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_07.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-62 alignright\" style=\"margin-left: 4px;margin-right: 4px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_07.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"294\" \/><\/a>The Mermen\u2019s fourth studio album, \u201cSongs of the Cows,\u201d released in 1996 is slightly more psychedelic than their previous effort. Staccato picking, bent chords, and a rollicking drumbeat announce the surf is up and the waves are pounding on the powerful opener \u201cCurve.\u201d\u00a0 The second track \u201cSlipping The Glimpse\u201d opens with vibrato tempered feedback, then Jim Thomas soars overhead with a heavily distorted lead while Allen Whitman\u2019s bass drives the melody.\u00a0 Other highlights include the Russian-themed \u201cVarykino Show,\u201d which gives way to the bittersweet waltz of \u201cA Heart With Paper Walls.\u201d\u00a0 The four-part \u201cBrain Wash\u201d concludes the album by beginning with a delicate melody that segues into the band\u2019s most experimental track to date \u2013 a subtle electronic symphony awash in distortion and feedback.\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_08.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63 alignleft\" style=\"margin-left: 10px;margin-right: 10px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_08.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/> <\/a><\/td>\n<td><a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_09.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-64 alignleft\" style=\"margin-left: 10px;margin-right: 10px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_09-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>In 1996 the Mermen released two more live albums: \u201cSunken Treasure,\u201d recorded at the Crocodile Caf\u00e9 in Seattle; and the limited edition \u201cOnly You,\u201d recorded at San Francisco\u2019s Fort Point National Monument at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge.\u00a0 The late Chet Helms, known for his concert promotions in the 60\u2019s at the Avalon Ballroom, introduces the band at the Fort Point show.<br \/>\nIt must be said at this point that a true artist is never satisfied residing within safe zones and pre-defined boundaries by repeating what has already been done before.\u00a0 It is only when we push against borders and expand our boundaries that we are experiencing life and truly living rather than merely existing.<br \/>\nComplacency only breeds contempt and mediocrity, and the Mermen are a perfect example of a band that has avoided mediocrity by continuously expanding their horizons.<br \/>\nCases in point are the Mermen\u2019s two most recent albums: \u201cThe Amazing California Health and Happiness Road Show,\u201d released in 2000; and \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d, which came out in 2009. Both of these albums are sharp left turns for the Mermen because neither relies on the Hendrix-inspired sonic-assaults that characterized the two previous releases.\u00a0 Aaron Marshall contributes to the other-worldly nature of both albums with his evocative artwork.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-70 alignleft\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_10.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>\u201cThe Amazing California Health and Happiness Road Show\u201d is the surfing equivalent of \u201cSgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band.\u201d\u00a0 It is Jim Thomas going nuts in the studio and using every trick in the book to make the most thrilling and unique surf-rock album imaginable.\u00a0 On this release he takes full advantage of multi-track technology to create a headphone masterpiece.\u00a0 This tour de force is stylistically as diverse as the Golden State from whence it came, containing raga chants, Eastern mysticism, country picking, pedal steel, synthesizers, and backward tape looping.\u00a0 The only unifying theme is experimentation.\u00a0 The standout track on the album is the unassuming named \u201cBare White,\u201d the greatest Acid Jazz song never written.\u00a0 It begins with steel drums, subtle wah wah guitar, and an Allen Whitman bass line evoking a Jamaican dub vibe until Jim Thomas throws a monkey wrench into the proceedings by tossing off a jazz guitar riff that would fit right in on a Wes Montgomery or early George Benson album.\u00a0 Other highlights include the vibrato and reverb drenched opener \u201cUnto The Resplendent;\u201d and \u201cSponge Cookie,\u201d which harkens back to the distorted psychedelic surf riffs of the previous two albums. The final track \u201cBurn\u201d concludes the album with a Hawkwind-inspired space-rock jam layered over a jungle drum beat that fades out in a jumble of feedback and distortion before ending on a note of optimism with an acoustic reprise of the album\u2019s opening melody.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-71\" style=\"margin-left: 4px;margin-right: 4px;border-width: 2px;border-color: black;border-style: solid\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_11.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"286\" \/><\/a>On the Mermen\u2019s latest release \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d they are catching a more tranquil wave as lead guitarist Jim Thomas channels David Gilmour in a set of spacey, ambient and hypnotic tunes that would not be out of place on the second half of Pink Floyd\u2019s 1971 Meddle album.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, because of the strong Pink Floyd influence, a more appropriate title for this disc might have been \u2018Dark Side of the Surf\u2019.<br \/>\nIn God We Trust is consistently listenable from beginning to end. The music takes you on a journey to a place where you have never been before and don\u2019t want to come back from.\u00a0 If you are looking for three-minute radio-friendly traditional surf classics then In God We Trust is not for you, but if you are open to experiencing a new-wave surf-sensation then this voyage may be just the trip the doctor ordered.\u00a0 In God We Trust is melodic groove music at its finest, and a really a far-out 3rd Wave surf-rock album from one of the best of a new breed of surf-rock bands.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-83 aligncenter\" style=\"border: 2px solid black\" src=\"http:\/\/www.totallyguitars.com\/thelisteningpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mermen_01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"348\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center\"><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Discography<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Krill Slippin\u2019 (1989)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Food for Other Fish (1994)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Live at the Haunted House (1995)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">A Glorious Lethal Euphoria (1995)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Songs of the Cows (1996)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Sunken Treasure (1996)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Only You (1996)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">The Amazing California Health and Happiness Road Show (2000)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">In God We Trust (2009)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center\"><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center\">Videos<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A Heart With Paper Walls (Nov. 2011)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ck_Ip5Xc-SI<br \/>\nRaglan (Nov. 2011)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bCAwMxgO8Vg&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nLast Forever (Nov. 2011)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-uCWYRZ5sAI&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nHoneybomb (Jan. 2010)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3MXIbPAm8uI&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nCurve (Jan. 2010)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=bHRrQTCmru8<br \/>\nLittle Stinky Kitty (Jan. 2010)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LExr9CNt_XI&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\n100 Foot Lemon (Jan. 2010)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aRLwRwXVx2k&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nKou Tree (Jan. 2010)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Gqf0AnYn4Hs&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nOcean Beach \/ Casbah (Apr. 2008)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NBUWyx6TyEA&amp;feature=g-vrec<br \/>\nRiptide (Apr. 2012)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0rxqZgEVtCA<br \/>\nHoneybomb (Apr. 2012)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X0-h-GK4erY&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nRaglan (Apr. 2012)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2L4EgaWqUpM&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nCurve (Apr. 2012)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LhcHcjSxO6Y&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\nThe Whales (Jan. 2010)<br \/>\nhttpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FWlItcnCi4w&amp;feature=relmfu<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center\">Editorials<\/h1>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n\u201cThe Mermen have been praised for &#8216;pushing the envelope&#8217; of guitar-driven instrumental music with a sound that is sometimes mystical, sometimes exuberant, and other times downright in-your-face brutal. The grassroots success of the Mermen is proof positive of the band&#8217;s awesome ability to affect people with their unique sound.\u201d \u2013 Amazon.com<br \/>\n\u201cOne of the odder and more wonderful bands to emerge from the surf music revival, the Mermen race between high-octane surf anthems and spaced-out blasts of psychedelia. Neither their albums nor their live shows follow any sort of expected or ordinary path, and the band has made many sincere attempts to get away from the surf music label. Based in San Francisco, the band has developed a broad cult following, encourages tapers, and has developed a strong relationship with radio, resulting in numerous radio broadcasts, some of which were compiled for The Mermen Live at the Haunted House.\u201d -\u2013 ThePirateBay.org<br \/>\n\u201cAbout 5 years ago, I got this cassette in the mail from these guys in San Francisco that I&#8217;d only heard slags about from the local snobby nosed purists. It was a 16 track cassette album called\u00a0Krill Slippin&#8217;. Well, I listened and listened. There was something really cool going on under relatively unsympathetic production. I thought about it for several weeks, and decided to write the band with encouragement, production values suggestions, and some trad surf sensibilities. I wasn&#8217;t sure what was trying to be accomplished. It could go in a really great trad direction, or it could become what it has&#8230; the best band in the world! Anyway, this has been 5 years coming to CD. It&#8217;s very important in that its great music, good listening, and, when combined with\u00a0At The Haunted House\u00a0provides true perspective on the development of a marvelous band. This will please any serious\u00a0Mermen\u00a0fan as well as instrumental fans&#8230; OK, so I&#8217;m a bit biased toward these guys, but that doesn&#8217;t take away from their music.\u201d -\u2013 Phil Dirt<br \/>\n\u201cIt&#8217;s been decades since\u00a0Jimi Hendrix\u00a0advised the world that they&#8217;d &#8220;never hear surf music again.&#8221; But the Mermen (who take their name from a Hendrix song) not only prove the venerable guitar god wrong, but make a compelling musical argument here that if Hendrix were alive today he might well be sitting in with them on these moody, musically expansive tracks. \u00a0Just as Jimi was reinventing himself at the time of his death, the Mermen tweak surf-instrumental clich\u00e9s beyond recognition&#8211;that is, when they&#8217;re not trashing them altogether. Guitarist Jim Thomas&#8217;s influences range from (of course) Hendrix to\u00a0Dick Dale,\u00a0Django Reinhardt,\u00a0Ravi Shankar,\u00a0Neil Young, Clarence White, and his own hometown heroes, the\u00a0Dead Kennedys. Listen closely and you&#8217;ll hear them all (and more) in a progressive collection that offers a surprise at nearly every turn, whether it&#8217;s the soaring steel guitar flourishes of &#8220;Unto the Resplendent,&#8221; the sitar colorings of &#8220;White Trash Raga,&#8221; or the spacey Floyd-isms of the 13-minute-plus noise-symphony, &#8220;Burn.&#8221; Like his heroes, Thomas never lets flash block the path of illumination, delivering his rich palette of tones and influences with an ocean-bred sense of grace and destiny.\u00a0&#8211;Jerry McCulley<br \/>\n\u201c\u2026in terms of the genre overall, I would have to pick\u00a0The Mermen\u00a0as the unique cream \u2013 or perhaps foam \u2013 of this crop.\u00a0 The sound of their early albums \u2013 their first,\u00a0Krill Slippin&#8217;, in particular \u2013 is unmistakeably surf \u2013 the monumental guitars, the echoing atmospherics, the rolling pull of the sound \u2013 but is also deeply psychedelic in the true sense \u2013 not the faux psychedelia of sixties and seventies rock with its clunkily na\u00efve mysticism, its sitars and picturebook lyrics, nor the irritating melodiousness of\u00a0psychedelic trance, but a psychedelia which combines dreaminess, insistence, the evocation of unfamiliar mental and physical states, the sense of a journey both embodied and transcendent. The bizarre beauty of the ocean documentary &#8211; one of my favourite televisula genres &#8211; is definitely an appropriate reference point.\u00a0 As much as being a soundtrack to a white-plumed voyage above and within rolling waves populated by mer-creatures and horses of foam,\u00a0Krill\u2019 Slippin\u00a0is also a soundtrack to a bedazzled, lazily drifting state of beach becalmedness infused with mild melancholia \u2013 in other words, perhaps the perfect summer music. While their later works tends towards being heavier and more experimental,\u00a0Krill Slippin\u2019\u00a0(with their second album, 1993\u2019s\u00a0Food For Other Fish, running a close second) is their masterpiece \u2013 a masterpiece of navigation between crests and lulls, the evocation of a half-mythical, echoing space of flows, located somewhere in uncharted waters.\u201d &#8211;genrenaut<br \/>\n&nbsp;\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By: Stephen Rose Led by guitarist Jim Thomas, and supported by Allen Whitman on bass and Martyn Jones on drums, the Mermen are a San Francisco surf-rock trio formed in 1989 and considered to be part of the \u201c3rd Wave\u201d of instrumental surf music, which is loosely associated with the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film Pulp [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2276],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-band-trivia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - 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