We're really being spoilt of late with some great home-grown Surf bands making a splash ! (Sorry about that), What with The Sine Waves down Hastings way, bands springing up left right & coastal....and these guys, The Terrorsaurs from the Midlands !..It would appear that something is a happening ! Although there is a chronic shortage of beachfront in their vicinity, they've taken The Trashmen philosophy 'You don't need no beach to be a Surf band!' and ran with it.....
All round good guy and Alt-Ted, Lee Powell recently had this to say about them...Enjoy !
The Terrorsaurs
“Well,
I don't know about art, but I know what I like
I'll be a-surfin' in a swamp on a Saturday night”
I'll be a-surfin' in a swamp on a Saturday night”
“I Ain't
Nuthin' But A Gorehound” – Lux Interior, The Cramps
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| David Ickes worst nightmare ! |
Instrumental guitar driven surf as a
musical genre has always sat side by side with rock n roll and during its
heyday in the early to mid-60s it offered the same air of rebellion that
emanated from the rockabilly and rock n roll. The mood was intense, the music
fast and furious, danceable and fun, all attributes that helped surf establish
itself as a sub-genre of the larger rock n roll scene, and spawned tracks such
as Miserlou by Dick Dale which has become a timeless surf classic and a track
still covered by many in the “billy”/RnR scenes today.
Fast forward 60 years and much like
rockabilly and rock n roll, surf is going strong with a number of bands riding
the wave of a surf revival which has rolled in alongside a wider appreciation
of rock n roll as a whole. However
modern day surf sits somewhere in the darkened under-belly of the R’n’R genre
which is inhabited by the strange, weird misfits of raw and untamed 50’s and
60’s independent rock n roll bands, burlesque/bump and grind soundtracks, 60’s
garage punk, early 80’s trash and psychobilly and anything else which slips
between the cracks of respectability of conventional rock n roll. And you don’t
get any more unconventional than The Terrorsaus, a 3 piece instrumental beast
that has limbered in from the Swampland, in the grime 'n' slime of central
England or Birmingham as it’s known to most of us.
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| Now Dig This ! |
Combining the primordial beat of early
rockabilly and the untamed, raw walls of guitar driven surf instrumentals The
Terrorsaurs have become overlords of pure, unadulterated Schlock ‘n’ Roll,
Creating tidal waves of interest, intrigue and fear in their wake. So much so
that the US’s leading rockabilly label Wild signed the band in 2014 before
releasing their debut album ‘the Shlock Singles’ the same year and their follow
up, the hotly anticipated monster of a sequel “Atomic Lizard Party" in
February 2015. Whilst not exactly fitting into the conventions of the usual
Wild roster it goes without saying that the Terrorsaus possess that unbridled
passion that resonates from their label mates and deliver in with guitars a
blazing across track after track of lowbrow instrumental rock n roll surf and
then some.
Origins of the band are somewhat sketchy
but rumour has it what a certain “Rumble” guitarist may have accidently created
a time warp through a wall of guitar noise and went back in time only to return
with 3 souvenir eggs from a chance rendezvous with a devishly frisky
female Komodo Dragon.
With a salute to instrumental surfs origins
The Terrorsaurs strive to expand on the sounds and atmospheres’ that can be
created in rock n roll music of this ilk and do so with a smooth, swarve
charisma finished with a cheeky wink. Their music is lush, head bobbing,
toe-tapping, tail swinging dance music, with a wonderfully sleazy yet somehow
almost decedent feel to it. The trio who make up the band obviously have a
great passion for the music they play even if it is presented with a tongue
firmly in cheek, and why the hell not. Wasn’t rock n roll all about rebellious
fun and challenging the pre-conceived? So the band may record under aliases, so
they may play with reptile/dinosaur masks on but bloody hell they rock and
their music personifies this wonderfully.
Creating somewhat of a cult following the
band have just retuned a mini Japanese tour and showcased their own brand of
fuzzed out shlock ‘n’ roll at various venues around the UK throughout the year.
They have also just released a fantastically collectable 7” single in green
vinyl with a scaled feel cover on Dig The Fuzz records which is limited to just
299 copies.
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| Stellar Surf ! |
Whilst some may not approve of the bands
theatrics even if their music more than demonstrates their skill as musicians,
I have a feeling that if he were still with us Lux Interior would have whole
heartedly approved about what the Terrorsaurs are going and rightly so. Put
your reservations to one side, shed those clothes and enjoy what the
Terrorsaurs are doing. Legions of fans
already are. Are you brave enough to
join them?
www.terrorsaurs.com
With a new single out shortly and their 1st album still available from various outlets including the Trash Wax store (www.trashwax.com) you really should check them out if you haven't done so already and they're doing a UK (& Dublin) tour in Oct-Nov so catch up with our scaley friends and have yourselves a ball !
Big Thanks to UK Rock 'n' Roll Magazine for giving these guys coverage in the first place.
great piece ....
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