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Reverb Central San Francisco's Pollo Del Mar have just issued their first CD. They have definite Zappa influences, a wonderful and unique sense of melody, and plenty of watery underpinnings. The music is loaded with jazz and desert and island shimmer and unique melodies. There is just no one out there doing what they are doing. Sophisticated writing, hot performing, and unusual combinations of elements bring it all together for a unique trip down the highway of instrumental hugeness. A great band. Ferenc Dobronyi is the main man, writer, and lead guitar masher, Jono (Juano Kahones) Jones carries the exceptional rhythm guitar, Jefferson Turner does the bassisms, and Chris Thomas whacks the drums. Pollo Del Marvelous! Read entire song by song review at Reverb Central Cosmik Debris Bout time! How long have we surf freaks been waiting for a full-length release from Pollo Del Mar? Let's just say my 4-song EP is shot all to hell from over-use. Now it can rest in peace while I play this incredible CD to death. Pollo Del Mar's music is more than just entertaining: it's fascinating. Break it down and see what you find. Even their most traditional sounding tunes have something unusual in the mix. While guitarists Ferenc Dobronyi and Jono Jones are gracefully splashing around in the reverb, Chris Thomas' rockin' drumming and the jazzy fretless bass work of Jefferson Turner make a powerful fusion and an instantly recognizable sound. The real show, however, begins when they leave tradition behind and ride the waves less traveled. These are four of the finest musicians around, and when they cut loose, it's something to hear. The sound is mysterious, dark, deep and turbulent, yet there's another element... Call it "dark optimism." Only The Insect Surfers, GT Stringer, and The Galaxy Trio brew similarly intoxicating sounds. The 14 tunes on The Ocean Is Not For Cowards run the spectrum from trad to jazzy fusion to stormy psych. Songs like "Snow Crash" and "Insecticide" beg for a new genre tag. Not just surf, but Tsunami Music. After a long, long wait, the big wave has finally hit the beach. SORTED MagAZine It's really hard to distinguish most surf guitar bands from one another, and it almost seems pointless to try. Some of them are faster than others, use more distortion than others, or are just slow and mellow and more something to groove to than actually do anything to. I guess this disc falls under the slightly-distorted category, mid range speed so far as the guitar playing goes, and not a lot of wanking going on, just straight jamming. The real beauty to these songs actually lies not in the songs themselves, but in their titles. With names like "Take Your Clothes Off" and "Erik Estrada", how can you lose? Or if you're slightly more pessimistic than me, how can you win? Actually, with "Erik Estrada", as a song itself, you can't lose. The dialog is in Spanish (which I'm far from fluent in), but it sounds like someone talking to his television while masturbating to ChiPs. Club Baja Randy Jensen Review of "The Ocean Is Not For Cowards" In the liner notes, Phil Dirt says PDM are somewhere between Zappa and the Insect Surfers, which rings true from their clean productionand non-traditional surf guitar sound. Sometimes they are too experimental for my closed-minded ears, but there are a few on here that I dig like Death Valley Daze, which has a laid-back, afternoon-in-the-sun kind of riff. Another band comparison might be with the Mermen, since there are a few tunes on here like Pearl Diver with that kind of power and "ocean music" vibe. Discoveries
John Blair The debut effort from San Francisco's Pollo Del Mar is on the non-trad side of the fence but what a nice effort it is. The Ocean Is Not For Cowards is a unique listen but difficult to describe. The band has been called a cross between Frank Zappa (Zappa's "Take You're Clothes Off" in fact, is one of the better tracks here) and the Insect Surfers (the influence on PDM was so striking, their "Insecticide" track is dedicated to the Insect Surfers). Don't let this comparison turn you away from checking this one out. If you like your surf music a bit progressive, with appropriate amounts of whammybar action and glissandos, here's one of the best efforts you could search out. Instrumental Rock and Roll Reviews
Kirk Scon Pollo Del Mar - The Ocean Is Not For Cowards Sunshine, salt breezes, the endless rolling of the surf - the interwining guitars of Ferenc Dobronyi and Jono Jones weave glistening sonic tapestries of subtly layered luminescense above the bottom dwelling rhythm section throughout the 14 tracks of this CD. Although their style is surf all the way, this band manages to create a highly original sound from a standard four-piece setup. Good songwriting, flawless picking and meticulous production all serve to create a melodic ebb and flow that, with a little imagination, will have the listener floating in the kelp beds off the coast, splashed with light and soothed by the slow rolling of the waves. Plus, their name, when translated, decribes my surfing style! Hang Nine This album was the cause (inadvertantly, it must be said) of a recent flame war on Cowabunga, when Teddie James of Squid Vicious claimed that Pollo Del Mar and several other bands were taking surf music forward into the 21st Century. Now, some people took exception to this on the grounds that surf music should stay firmly rooted in the 1960's, where, or so they believe, it belongs. But it wasn't only the trad-surf brigade who objected - you see, one of the bands in Teddie's list was his own Squid Vicious! Whatever! There is no doubt, though, that this is a fascinating album. Pollo Del Mar (Chicken of the Sea!) are an eclectic bunch. They certainly sound like an instrumental surf band - just check out the twang of the opener, Teleport '61, the slightly Western sounding Playa Pistola, the gorgeous The Blue Rider, or To Surf, With Love. They certainly can sound like a whole lot of other things too, though. I remember my Deadman buddy, Johhnny, who saw them in California last year, telling me that Pollo Del Mar were a surf band who suddenly went off at tangents, mid-song, breaking into jazz and who knows what? In fact, guitarist Ferenc Dobronyi complained about the jazz comparison during the Cowabunga flame war and, sure enough, there are not many numbers on The Ocean Is Not For Cowards which I would exactly describe as being jazzy (despite Jefferson Turner's fretless bass). They do love those tangents, though. Frequently a tune will start in one vein, before lurching in a completely different direction (and quite likely time signature or tempo). At times the closest comparison I can find is the prog-rock of a band like early 70's Italians PFM, although Pollo Del Mar (PDM?) generally manage to stay just far enough to the right side of tuneful to hold my attention. Trad-Surf it ain't (the sleeve is labelled "File Under: Surf, Modern," so no doubts there then), but it seems that many of the newest wave of "surf" bands ain't exactly Trad-Surf either (I recently discussed with StratoCossack, of the Space Cossacks, how both of our forthcoming albums weren't truly "surf," more "surf-influenced" - could be the latest trend). So, the controversy has died down and we're left with a damn fine album. Whether it will take surf forward into the 21st Century is another matter... Contact Pollo
Del Mar for details of how to get a copy of
The Ocean Is Not For Cowards. You are unlikely to regret it. Garage and Beat
Edwin Lechter True surf lovers can never get too much of a good thing and will want to add this disc to their voluminous collection. A solid four piece that adheres to the basic structure of twoo guitars, a bass and some skins that explores a wide variety of rhythmic, tonal and meldoic territory. This release came out in 1997, but has just been pressed up again for a new batch of mad party people. Though peppered with various exotic touches, moody flourishes and tension elevating moments, this is a seamless afair with sweet, soaring guitars throughout. The sax and piano work on "Playa Pistola" makes for a dandy change of pace. Bonus pun points for the song title "To Surf, With Love." |